Most people assume that minority comedians will take any opportunity they can to bash President Trump.
So it came as a surprise when comedian Dave Chappelle shared some optimism for then-President-elect Donald Trump during a 2016 episode of Saturday Night Live. Newsweek reminded its readers of those words on Oct 13th: “I looked around that room and saw all those black faces … and it made me proud to be an American … So, in that spirit, I’m wishing Donald Trump luck. And I’m going to give him a chance. And we, the historically disenfranchised, demand that he give us one too.”
Ah, civility. Even if it’s dug up from the past, it’s a sound for sore ears nowadays.
That was then, and CNN’s Van Jones was going to make sure Chappelle repented when the comic made an appearance on his show.
"I think the rhetoric of (Donald Trump's) presidency is repugnant," comedian Dave Chappelle tells @VanJones68. "We're living in a time where there's gotta be a little more cultural sensitivity."
— CNN (@CNN) October 13, 2018
Watch the Van Jones Show at 7 p.m. ET on CNN. https://t.co/QIIXvaMD1O pic.twitter.com/jFarcoeSmM
According to Huffington Post, Chappelle was asked by the host whether he still stood by the comments he made in 2016 following the president’s inauguration. Chappelle voiced some disappointment, saying: “... the rhetoric of his Presidency is repugnant, I just don’t like the way he talks” and “As a president of a country that’s as eclectic as ours … I just think that he’s speaking to a very small choir.” But then came a full recant of his olive branching: Chappelle admitted “I shouldn’t have said that s***” after some prodding by former NAACP President Ben Jealous, who was also a guest on the show.
