Rudy Giuliani, Mitt Romney, John McCain and Fred Thompson have refused to participate in a forum hosted by outspoken black journalist Tavis Smiley. Smiley had this to say:
“The frontrunners, specifically Mr. Romney, Mr. McCain and Mr. Giuliani, have said to us they will not be on stage at Morgan State University on September 27th. All the Democrats showed up in June, but the front running Republicans have said they will not be there. They have also told Univision that they will not be there for the Hispanic debate. So, collectively, what the Republican frontrunners have told both black and brown Americans is that we don't appreciate you, don't value your issues and you're not a priority to us."
Newt Gingrich criticized fellow Republicans for their apparent lack of enthusiasm for minority hosted events:
“For Republicans to consistently refuse to engage in front of an African American or Latino audience is an enormous error."
“I hope they will reverse their decision and change their schedules. I see no excuse — this thing has been planned for months, these candidates have known about it for months. It’s just fundamentally wrong. Any of them who give you that scheduling-conflict answer are disingenuous. That’s baloney.”
All American Presidential Forum on PBS
Moderated by Tavis Smiley
Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD)
Republican Debates Thursday September 27th 2007
9-10:30 PM ET
The event will be televised live on PBS and simultaneously Webcast on pbs.org.
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