On discussing the Republican YouTube debate, Joy Behar said she was "slightly annoyed" that Mitt Romney stated a large factor in black on black crime are unstable families, and that he did not address racism. Sherri Shepherd scoffed that "not one of these candidates ever thought about black on black crime."
Joy Behar and Whoopi Goldberg also exclaimed why no one ever asks about "white on white crime." Joy Behar did concede that Rudy Giuliani dramatically reduced black on black crime in New York City, but questioned "the way he did it." Sherri Shepherd responded "because one of my cousins called me from jail."
The entire transcript is below.
JOY BEHAR: Romney, there was a YouTube moment of this African-American man with, I think it was his son. And do we have that clip by any chance? Because that was interesting because-
WHOOPI GOLDBERG: We do.
BEHAR: Yes, we do. Can we show that? Is it possible or not?
GOLDBERG: Yeah.
BEHAR: Yes?
GOLDBERG: They’ll get it together.
UNIDENTIFIED MAN: We are from Atlanta
UNIDENTIFIED BOY: I want to ask you guys a question. I notice you spent billions of dollars on the war in Iraq every year. But what about the war going on in our country, black on black crime? 200 to 400 black men die yearly in one city alone. What are you going to do about that war? It feels like the Taliban is right outside.
FORMER MASSACHUSETTS GOVERNOR MITT ROMNEY: Well, first of all, Francis is pretty fortunate because he’s got a dad standing next to him that apparently loves him by all appearances there. That’s probably the best thing you can do for a kid is have a mom and a dad. [applause] It’s time in this country that we go back to the kind of values that allow kids to have moms and dads. In the African American community today, 68 percent of kids born are born out of wedlock. And so we’re going to try, once again to reinculcate in this country a kind of values that have made us strong, family values. Secondly-
ANDERSON COOPER: The question is what are you going to do about the war in the inner city?
ROMNEY: Well, one, about the war in the inner city, number one, is to get more moms and dads, that’s number one. And thank heavens Bill Cosby said it like it was. That’s where the root of crime starts.
BEHAR: Okay, so the question is what about black on black crime, and then Romney answered it in that way. I’m curious what everybody thought because I was slightly annoyed with him for that.
SHERRI SHEPHERD: Well, why were you annoyed?
BEHAR: Well, I was annoyed first of all there’s no discussion of racism in this society. It’s always about that. So that annoyed me in the first place. I mean, these people are mental midgets. They have no ability to look at the large picture of the country, and where were coming from. So it becomes all about your parents. Okay, your parents are responsible, but there are other factors that are implicated and indicated in black on black crime. It has to do with unemployment, it has to do with all sorts of factors.
GOLDBERG: Why would you ask him about black on black crime?
BEHAR: And to quote Bill Cosby-
SHEPHERD: But I think, I think it was a very- I think that not one of those candidates ever thought about black on black crime. I don’t think it was on their agenda. I think every single one of those candidates would have pulled Bill Cosby’s name from the top of their head, because he was the one that everybody just gravitates to.
BEHAR: And what did Bill Cosby say, do you know?
SHEPHERD: He was talking about parenting being one of the reasons-
BEHAR: It is one of the reasons.
SHEPHERD: One of the reasons why there’s a lot of crime.
BEHAR: But when you’re talking about white on white crime, do you say it’s about parenting as much? I don’t think that even comes up.
GOLDBERG: I know, well, you know, when you talk about white on white crime you are talking about parents, father and mother, who beat their child to death. They don’t talk about that as being a parenting issue.
BEHAR: Exactly!
GOLDBERG: So, but here’s my question. You know, this is not the, these are not the guys to answer the question. These are not the guys who come into the neighborhoods. They don’t know. Will this question be asked of Osama? Not Osama, Obama.
[laughter]
BEHAR: I did the same thing.
SHEPHERD: Osama?
BEHAR: You know what? It’s the name, but come on.
GOLDBERG: Yeah, I made a mistake. Go ahead and kick my butt.
[laughter]
BEHAR: Yeah, but it’s an easy mistake.
GOLDBERG: And, and, I apologize. But do you think they’ll ask him the question? Do you think anybody will ask him the question about black on black crime?
BEHAR: They might.
GOLDBERG: How come we never asked white people about white on white crime?
BEHAR: That’s what I’m saying. I came up because-
GOLDBERG: I’m asking you.
SHEPHERD: What would you do about white on white crime?
BEHAR: I mean, I don’t know the answers to these questions. I’m not here to say that I have the answers. I’m saying that these people are running for president, and they don’t have-
SHEPHERD: I don’t think they care.
BEHAR: -they don’t have- they don’t care and they don’t have-
GOLDBERG: They don’t have an answer.
BEHAR: I mean, Giuliani, to his credit, did do something about crime in New York City. But whatever the way he did it, that’s a whole other conversation.
GOLDBERG: I know the way he did it.
BEHAR: Tell them how.
GOLDBERG: You know-
GLORIA ESTEFAN: How did he do it by the way?
BEHAR: Well, he claims that he cut black on black crime by 80 percent in African-American neighborhoods. He claims that. That is one of the things that he claims.
SHEPHERD: Yeah because one of my cousins called me from jail
[laughter]
GOLDBERG: A lot of folks went to jail. But here’s the issue, you know, when you’re talking about those kind of issues, are those the guys to ask? It’s kind of a tough question for him.
SHEPHERD: Well, sure, if he wants to become president, yeah those are the guys to ask.
GOLDBERG: Why?
SHEPHERD: He wants to become our commander-in-chief. That’s a big deal.
