Taking the Black Vote for Granted': Black Reverend Blasts Obama to Megyn Kelly

Following President Obama's decision to skip this year's NAACP National Convention, Reverend William Owens, president of the Coalition of African-American Pastors, told Fox News' Megyn Kelly Thursday he was "confident" that the president is taking the black vote for granted this time around.

Kelly said while Obama cited "scheduling issues," political writers had pointed out that his political schedule was almost "completely empty," yet he still sent Vice President Joe Biden to fill in for him Thursday at the annual convention. Even GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney delivered remarks before the NAACP, a largely Democratic audience, and was booed multiple times.

"Do you think the president is taking the black vote for granted?" Kelly asked.

"I think he is. I'm confident that he is taking the black vote for granted," Owens replied.

Owens went on to say that blacks have been very "catering" towards Obama, therefore, the president assumes "just because we're black, we are going to vote for him."

Kelly asked if Obama had reason to take the black vote for granted because, in some polls, his approval rating among black voters was as high as 96 percent.

But Owens questioned the validity of the polls and predicted Obama's approval among blacks is not going as strong as it was in 2008, largely due to the president's decision to support same-sex marriage. Given the way the 2012 presidential race is shaping up, it could be detrimental to the Obama campaign if his campaign sees a dip in support from the black voters.

"I don't know if the polls we are seeing are correct," he added. "Our polls do not show he has that great of a percentage of the black vote."

Further, Owens argued there are "thousands" of black people who will not to vote for Obama and others who are being dishonest by saying they will vote for him but actually plan to stay home on election day.

Owens said Obama should have made an in-person appearance at the NAACP convention and his absence sent a clear message to black voters.

“I think he would have been there if he had not taken the NAACP for granted. The NAACP has pandered to the president, they are doing his will by endorsing same-sex marriage, and I don’t think he counts them as being important now because he already has them.”

He went on, "I think the president is making a serious mistake by taking the black vote for granted. And I think the NAACP has made a serious mistake by pandering to the president and endorsing same-sex marriage."

Watch the entire segment via Fox News here:

H/T: Mediaite