CNN analyst "Distort D'Newsa": "Reagan didn't reject blacks, blacks rejected Reagan"

Following his debut as a "CNN analyst" on that cable channel on June 6, right-wing pundit and author Dinesh D'Souza appeared again as a "CNN analyst" on a special edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360° on June 9. D'Souza (known by some as "Distort D'Newsa," according to 1985 and 1991 articles in The Washington Post) also answered questions regarding Ronald Reagan's presidency in a June 9 washingtonpost.com "Live Online" discussion titled "Reagan: Biographer."

D'Souza was identified by washingtonpost.com as "author of Ronald Reagan: How an Ordinary Man Became an Extraordinary Leader." When asked by an online participant, "Why do you think he was so tone deaf on the vital American issue of race?" D'Souza responded as follows:

Reagan had an unfailingly inclusive vision of America. His view was that it didn't matter where you came from or who you were. What mattered was what you could do. Immigrants found this appealing. Blacks in general didn't. Blacks are at a peculiar point in their history where many of them believe that "race does matter" and "race should matter." A different vision from what Martin Luther King held in his "I Have a Dream" speech. So Reagan didn't reject blacks, blacks rejected Reagan. It's unfortunate, but I don't think it tells against Reagan. Maybe there will be some reconsideration of Reagan now by African Americans.

—K.N.