On Wednesday, the co-hosts of The View treated director Quentin Tarantino to a softball interview following his anti-cop remarks last month. The hosts happily provided him a platform to play the victim against those who condemned him calling cops “murderers” and to double-down on his attack on the policy.
After playing a clip of Tarantino’s remarks at a Rice Up October rally, Whoopi Goldberg failed to challenge the director for his anti-cop beliefs and instead sympathetically wondered “we want to ask you first of all, what did you mean by your comment?”
The director immediately tried to cover his tracks and alter his previews comments that police were “murderers” and instead argued that he was merely “talking about these specific instances that we have seen of these tragedies. We've seen captured on video time after time in sickening detail of in some cases what I actually do believe is murder.”
Tarantino continued to go on a long rant justifying his attack on the police before Goldberg gave him yet another opportunity to explain that he’s “not anti-police?” The controversial director then played the victim by accusing his critics of “ trying to vilify me” as a “cop hater” and “[A]s far as I'm concerned, Patrick Lynch, the head of the NYPD union is slandering me by calling me a cop hater because they can't deal with the criticism that I’m giving them.”
ABC’s Paula Faris was the only co-host who actually attempted to ask a serious journalistic question about Tarantino’s remarks but merely cited “critics” when asking him about the blow back he has faced:
Now the National Association of Police Organizations is calling for a boycott of all of your films because of your language and they say it's utterly irresponsible and “threatens the safety of police and citizens alike.” But it’s not just police Quentin. A lot of people were upset that those comments at that rally were made just days after a police officer here in New York City was gunned down. Do you regret the timing at all?
Not to be outdone, Candace Cameron chose not to ask Tarantino about the repercussions of calling cops “murderers” but instead sympathetically wondered “[h]ow has all of this personally affected you? Because you've said that you have felt demonized by the situation. Why?”
Liberal comedian Michelle Collins followed up by giving Tarantino yet another opportunity to promote his anti-cop agenda as she closed out the segment by eagerly asking him “[y]ou know, it’s something that you’re obviously very passionate about. What do you think we can do to kind of diffuse the anger here and also make it better? What can change?”
See relevant transcript below.
ABC’s The View
November 18, 2015
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: So now, you were at a Rise Up October rally where 40 families from across the country who were impacted by police violence, they were all participating. So we want to ask you first of all, what did you mean by your comment?
QUENTIN TARANTINO: Well, I think what I mean is fairly clear, you know. I was talking about these specific instances that we have seen of these tragedies. We've seen captured on video time after time in sickening detail of in some cases what I actually do believe is murder. In the case of Walter Scott, that absolutely was murder, and he was indicted for murder. In the case of Eric Gardener, I actually believe that was murder even though those cops were exonerated.
And I was there to, one, to be part of this rally which is -- there was a lot of ideas behind it, but the basic idea was stop killing people, stop taking your gun out and shooting unarmed citizens. Just stop that. That was the main thing that we were trying to get across but the other thing that we were there to do and particularly one of the things I was there to do was there to meet the families. We had actually sent about 40 families because this has been happening all over America obviously. And we sent 40 families to New York to take part of this.
Because part of the thing that we're trying to get away from is the fact that everyone quotes these statistics all the time, but these people who were alive and who are now dead are not statistics. They're not numbers. They're people who lived and died. And we wanted to say their names, see their pictures, think of them as citizens, as human beings, and then hear their families tell their story and I wanted to hear the families. I wanted to bear witness to their pain.
GOLDBERG: So, clear this up. You're not anti-police?
TARANTINO: I'm not anti-police.
JOY BEHAR: Good.
TARANTINO: I'm not a cop hater. They're trying to vilify me as that. As far as I'm concerned, Patrick Lynch, the head of the NYPD union is slandering me by calling me a cop hater because they can't deal with the criticism that I’m giving them.
BEHAR: But isn’t it important to really say not all cops are murderers. You didn't really say that.
TARANTINO: If I'm at an anti-nuclear rally, you know I'm talking about nuclear power. I wasn't making a broad statement. I was talking about the issues we were talking about at that rally. I obviously do not believe that all cops are murderers. I didn't say that. I didn't imply that. I was talking about these specific cases.
PAULA FARIS: Now the National Association of Police Organizations is calling for a boycott of all of your films because of your language and they say it's utterly irresponsible and “threatens the safety of police and citizens alike.” But it’s not just police Quentin. A lot of people were upset that those comments at that rally were made just days after a police officer here in New York City was gunned down. Do you regret the timing at all?
TARANTINO: I think the timing is unfortunate. There are two different issues that you actually said there. First, let me just deal with Officer Holder who was killed. All right, that was very, very unfortunate. However, at the same time -- and I'm not going to say that one doesn't have anything to do with the other because obviously they do. However, like I said, the reason for this rally was to have these families tell their stories. We had -- rallies like this take months to set in advance, and so we were sending the people down here. So what? Because that happened we're going to tell all the families, we're not going to hear your story. You're not going to say your peace. You're not going to talk about your loved ones. We're going to send you home. I’m sorry the timing is just not right. It’s not good. We're not going to do that. The people needed to be heard.
--
CANDACE CAMERON: How has all of this personally affected you? Because you've said that you have felt demonized by the situation. Why?
TARANTINO: Well, they are kind of demonizing me. They don't want to handle this kind of criticism at least coming from somebody I guess from where I'm coming from, from my type of stature. And so the thing is they have to tear me down in the public and they're doing it by slander, not by my own words, and they're trying to discourage me from talk, to shut my mouth, and in particular, they're trying to tell any other person like me that feels this way to just stay out of it. You see what we're doing to Quentin, we can just as easily do that to you. So, keep your mouth shut.
MICHELLE COLLINS: You know, it’s something that you’re obviously very passionate about. What do you think we can do to kind of diffuse the anger here and also make it better? What can change?
TARANTINO: Well, until the cops start having a dialogue, I don't think anything is going to change. For instance, they would even have a point where it's like, okay, I'm saying Walter Scott was murdered. Well, that was -- that cop has been indicted for murder so they're okay with that. But I'm also saying that Eric Gardener was murdered. I actually do think that the cop that choked him committed murder, and I actually think the cops that were assisting him were accessories to that murder. Now, they were vindicated.
They were vindicated. Now, that is a discussion we could have, all right, where I'm calling that murder and they're saying it's not and we can talk about that and that's a discussion. That could be really wonderful. But the real answer to your question, I do think that, um, in the 21st century -- we're in the 21st century now. We need to ask what is it do we want from the police. What is it do we want from a police force. In the 21st century do we want to do it the way we've been doing it for the last 100 years in the 20th century? And I think that's a discussion we need to have.
