Cain: Black community ‘brainwashed’ into supporting Democratic Party

After saying Monday that he believes blacks are “over this first African-American president thing,” Herman Cain said Wednesday that the black community was “brainwashed” into traditionally voting for Democratic lawmakers.

“African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view,” Cain said on an interview set to air Wednesday afternoon on CNN. “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple.”

{mosads}On Monday, Cain blasted the president for his tone at a Congressional Black Caucus dinner, and predicted he would be able to garner at least one-third of black voters in a head-to-head general election.

“I believe, quite frankly, that my campaign, I will garner a minimum of a third of the black vote in this country and possibly more, especially after what the president did recently when he was addressing the Black Caucus. That didn’t go over well with a lot of people in this country,” Cain said.

Cain still believed that he would be able to attract black support by breaking through to black voters with his policy ideas.

“This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true,” Cain said. “I believe a third would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I’m black but because of my policies.”

Cain also criticized speculation about the potential candidacy of Chris Christie (R), arguing that the speculation over the New Jersey governor’s run was detrimental to the electoral process.

“It’s not insulting as much as it is a disservice to the American people,” Cain said. “Chris Christie has been saying for a long time he’s not interested in running. The media is trying to create a story by sucking Chris Christie into the race, just like they made a story by sucking Rick Perry into the race.”