'Maybe they're sick of being told what to do': JD Vance slams Obama for scolding black men over not supporting Kamala

Senator JD Vance fired back at Barack Obama after the former president scolded black men earlier this week for not overwhelmingly supporting Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris. At the time Obama suggested it was because those black men not in support of Harris don't want a woman as president. 

Vance made the comments at a rally in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, when an audience member asked him about his approach to persuade voters versus Obama's tact this week. Vance responded that he believes in "persuading voters" instead of "hectoring voters."

“Support is not something I’m given or something I’m owed. It’s something you gotta go out there and work for,” the vice-presidential candidate said.

Vance added "The better question for Barack Obama or anybody to ask is not 'how dare you not vote for Kamala Harris.' It's maybe they're thinking about voting for Donald Trump because they're sick of being censored, they're sick of being told what to do, and they're sick of not being able to afford the American dream. Maybe that's why we're getting more black voters than Republicans in the past."

Earlier this week, the 44th president appeared to get frustrated when he made a stop at a local campaign office before a rally in Pittsburgh. He said at the time, "We have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running," to a group of black men. "Now, I also want to say that that seems to be more pronounced with the brothers."

He later added that he thought this apprehension among some black men for not supporting Kamala Harris was that they did not like the idea of having a woman in the White House, "Part of it makes me think, and I’m speaking to men directly… that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that."

Obama has received harsh backlash for the comments, similar to what happened when Biden told a reporter that if a black voter doesn't vote for him they "ain't black."