Rapper-turned-mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs said he thinks that black voters “got a little bit shortchanged” by Barack Obama’s presidency, and urged the black community to “hold our vote” as a way to spur meaningful action by political leaders.
“The heat has to be turned up so much that as a community, we’ve got to hold our vote,” Diddy told the Rev. Al Sharpton on MSNBC Sunday. “Don’t pacify yourself; really revolutionize the game. Make them come for our vote. It’s a whole different strategy, but I think we need to hold our vote because I don’t believe any of them.”
The entertainment icon explained that while he thinks that Obama has done “an excellent job” as president, he also feels that the first black presidency didn’t fully deliver on its promise.
“My number one thing, to be honest, is black people — I feel like we put President Obama in the White House. When I look back, I just wanted more done for my people, because that’s the name of the game,” he said.
“This is politics. You put somebody in office, you get in return the things that you care about for your communities. I think we got a little bit shortchanged. That’s not knocking the President,” Diddy said. “He’s done an excellent job, you know, but I think it’s time to turn up the heat, because the black vote is going to decide who is the next president of the United States.”
He also addressed Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, laying out what he hopes she’ll do to win over black voters.
“Hillary Clinton, you know, I hope she starts to talk directly to the black community. It really makes me feel, you know, almost hurt that our issues are not addressed and we’re such a big part of the voting bloc.”
Diddy supported Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign, appearing at a get-out-the-vote rally in Los Angeles that year. But the media mogul also told The Washington Post in an interview last October that GOP nominee Donald Trump “is a friend of mine, and he works very hard.”