On Tuesday night, Comedy Central host Larry Wilmore viciously attacked Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) and deemed his 2016 presidential campaign "'Backlash 2016: The unblackening' begins tonight. It is time for America to say f*** you to the notion that once you go black you never go back."
The Nightly Show host opened his broadcast by shamelessly proclaiming "we ask the question can a foreign-born half-white man be our next president. The answer according to one woman, hell no! Ted Cruz went to Harvard, just like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Hey, Harvard, stop admitting dudes named Ted."
Wilmore then claimed that “any time a crazy guy enters an election, you have a late night show job security for a little while longer." The Comedy Central host went one step further and argued that Cruz’s campaign was an attempt to reclaim America from a black president:
[T]hat's why we are so excited to announce the start of our 2016 election coverage. That's right. You got it. That's right. "Backlash 2016: The unblackening" begins tonight. It is time for America to say f*** you to the notion that once you go black you never go back.
As the segment progressed, the Comedy Central host trashed Cruz’s decision to announce his presidential bid at Liberty University because there's “no better place to start the unblackening of the presidency than at a university in Lynchburg, Virginia.”
Later on, Wilmore played a clip of Cruz stressing the need to “reclaim the constitution of the United States” which the comedian took as a racial dog whistle:
Reclaim the constitution? He thinks just because Obama is a brother he stole the constitution from the White House? He's not the black Nicholas Cage.
Wilmore concluded his over-the-top condemnation of by addressing the “biggest takeaway of the speech was Cruz' coded language about how he sees the future of the country” which was Cruz stressing the importance of restoring America’s greatness:
I get it. I get it. In order to go forward, you have to go back, right? Reclaim, restore, reignite. So what you're really saying is somebody stole your country. Black guy did it, right? Blacklash at its finest.
See relevant transcript below.
Comedy Central’s The Nightly Show with Larry Wilmore
March 24, 2015
LARRY WILMORE: Tonightly, we ask the question can a foreign-born half-white man be our next president. The answer according to one woman, hell no! Ted Cruz went to Harvard, just like Unabomber Ted Kaczynski. Hey, Harvard, stop admitting dudes named Ted. So jump in your arguing boots and throw it into Cruz control, this is the Nightly Show.
--
WILMORE: Thank you very much. What a great crowd. Welcome to "The nightly show." I'm Larry Wilmore. Oh, man, big story tonight. I can barely contain myself. This is true, you guys. I got my first gift as a late night host.
CAROL COSTELLO: The 2016 presidential season is now under way.
ANDREA MITCHELL: Freshman Senator Ted Cruz, Texas Tea Party star and political thorn in the side of his own Republican colleagues, is first in.
WILMORE: Thank you, thank you, thank you thank you. You guys don't understand how wonderful this is. This is a gift from the comedy gods. I mean, Cruz is a guy that even fellow Republican John McCain called a wacko bird. Thanks for your service, Senator McCain. But any time a crazy guy enters an election, you have a late night show job security for a little while longer. Rent gonna get paid. Light's gonna get turned back on. Some money. Some money.
That's why we're-- oh, by the way, that's why we are so excited to announce the start of our 2016 election coverage. That's right. You got it. That's right. "Backlash 2016: The unblackening" begins tonight. It is time for America to say f*** you to the notion that once you go black you never go back. So how did Mr. Cruz announce his mission impossible run for president?
COSTELLO: Right around midnight, conservative firebrand Ted Cruz tweeted out this announcement. "I'm running for president."
WILMORE: I'm sorry, did she say tweeted and around midnight? Is Ted Cruz trying to win hashtag wars? Presidential announcements don't happen at midnight. Booty calls happen at midnight, all right. And other than the backseat of your Hyundai Elantra, there's no better place to hook up than at a college.
JEFF ZELENY: We're here at Liberty University because there's a built-in audience for exactly who Senator Cruz wants to reach. It is 10,000 young evangelical Christians.
WILMORE: Oh, and by the way, there's no better place to start the unblackening of the presidency than at a university in Lynchburg, Virginia. No, but I've got to give Cruz credit. 10,000 kids. Seriously. Big numbers there. I mean, he has obviously tapped into the youth culture.
EMILY MCGOWAN: What a lot of people don’t know is that we’re required took to go to these convocation services or else we are find $10.
WILMORE: That's like setting up your own surprise party, right. You guys! I'm so surprised! What are you doing here? Where's Doug? All right, somebody's getting fined $10. All right, so let's hear what captain fake crowd had to say.
TED CRUZ: A president who stands unapologetically with the nation of Israel. Secures the borders. Repealing ObamaCare. Liberty. Small businesses. Abolishing the IRS.
WILMORE: Yeah. Who needs the IRS? Blow that thing up. Whoo-hoo. Yeah, baby, good-bye taxes. Yeah. Alright, what else are we doing?
CRUZ: Imagine a simple flat tax that lets every American fill out his or her taxes on a postcard.
WILMORE: And to whom would I be sending that tax postcard? Is there a particular service you're going to set up to handle this country's internal revenues? Good thing there's a 10-second rule on building blows. There we go. Everything's the same. All right, what else did Colonel Not Think it Through have to say?
CRUZ: It is a time to reclaim the constitution of the United States.
WILMORE: Reclaim the constitution? He thinks just because Obama is a brother he stole the constitution from the White House? He's not the black Nicholas Cage.
It's not fair. It's not fair. All right, okay.--
WILMORE: But the biggest takeaway of the speech was Cruz' coded language about how he sees the future of the country.
CRUZ: I want to talk to you this morning about reigniting the promise of America. As we come together to reclaim the promise of America. We will get back and restore that shining city on a hill that is the United States of America.
WILMORE: I get it. I get it. In order to go forward, you have to go back, right? Reclaim, restore, reignite. So what you're really saying is somebody stole your country. Black guy did it, right? Blacklash at its finest.
