Michael Moore: 'Obama will be remembered as the first black president, and that's it'

In a video interview with the Hollywood Reporter, progressive documentary filmmaker Michael Moore spoke about the 25th anniversary of his hit film, Roger & Me (1989), at the Toronto Film Festival. As the documentary reflects the dramatic economic impact of the closing automobile factories in the late 1980s, Moore criticized President Obama for claiming he 'saved Detroit' during his 2012 election campaign, calling him "a huge disappointment."

Moore discusses President Obama at about 1:41 in the video below.

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"Detroit, at this point, would stand a better chance if they were an Iraqi or Syrian city, in terms of getting some sort of help," said Moore.

"I wrote Obama a letter and I said, 'Dear President Obama, god bless you, but you did not save Detroit. You saved General Motors, you saved Chrysler.'"

Moore's criticism of the President, however, eventually turned scathing:

"When the history is written of this era, this is how you'll be remembered: He was the first black president. Okay, not a bad accomplishment, but that's it. That's it, Mr. Obama. 100 years from now: 'He was the first black American that got elected president.' And that's it. Eight years of your life and that's what people are going to remember. Boy, I got a feeling, knowing you, that - you'd probably wish you were remembered for a few other things, a few other things you could've done."

The filmmaker was making an appearance at the Toronto Film Festival for a screening of Moore's debut film, Roger & Me, the same festival that first premiered it in 1989. In 2013, the film was selected for preservation in the U.S. National Film Registry by the Library of Congress. Moore has twice been nominated for an Academy Award, winning in 2003 for Bowling for Columbine.