RNC chair: Media didn't vet Obama because of race

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele said Friday that President Obama has not been vetted thanks to a complicit media that wanted to see a black man become president. Steele, who is also African-American, said Obama's political philosophy and principles remain largely unknown. He was not vetted, folks," Steele said. "He was not vetted because the press fell in love with the black man running for the office. 'Oh, gee, wouldn't it be neat to do that? Gee, wouldn't it make all of our liberal guilt just go away? We can continue to ride around in our limousines and feel so lucky to live in an America with a black president,' " Steele said, mocking what he sees as a biased media. Steele went on to suggest the media should have examined the influence the Rev Jeremiah Wright had on Obama. Think Progress posted a 2005 interview between Steele and C-SPAN host Brian Lamb in which Steele pushed back against claims made by the Baltimore Sun that all he brought to the gubernatorial ticket was the color of his skin. Steele called the claim, made in an editorial when he and ex-Gov Bob Ehrlich (R) ran together in 2002, "pure ignorance," adding that he had been the victim of racist treatment.