Ian Schwartz at Real Clear Politics found hot talk about President Trump being a racist insect on the debut of the new Van Jones show on CNN Saturday night. Jones asked the rapper Jay-Z about the allegation that Trump talked about immigrants from "s---hole countries" (and Jones said the word again on CNN). Jay-Z called that not only "hurtful," but "misinformed," because "these places have beautiful people and beautiful everything."
Memo to PolitiFact: Please assess the facticity of "Africa has beautiful everything."
Jay-Z (birth name Shawn Carter) compared Trump to former Los Angeles Clippers owned Donald Sterling, who was caught saying racist things on a tape made by a former girlfriend. The NBA took the team away from them, and Jay-Z thinks a punishment that harsh makes the bugs in the trash ran just run away and create a "superbug." So it's apparently an insect analogy, but it sounds a bit like a antibiotic-resistant virus. "You just keep spraying whatever over it to make it acceptable. Then as those things grow, you create a superbug. And now we have Donald Trump, the superbug."
CNN's crowd laughed heartily as this -- surprise, surprise -- and Jones said he had a "really good point," but the rapper quickly realized how that sounded, and tried to step back: "Donald Trump is a human being, too. I just like want you -- I’m being funny." He then psycho-analyzed Trump, that his racism comes from some personal "pain."
VAN JONES, CNN: We have a President that comes and says every African country is a ‘shithole country,’ how does that land with you as a dad?
SHAWN "JAY-Z" CARTER: It is disappointing and it’s hurtful. It really is hurtful, more so -- everyone feels anger but after the anger, it’s really hurtful. Because it’s looking down at a whole population of people and you're so misinformed because these places have beautiful people and beautiful everything. Um, this is the leader of the free world speaking like this.
On the other side, this has been going on. This is how people talk, this is how they talk behind closed doors. There was a moment when Donald Sterling had been exposed as this racist on a private phone conversation he was having and they took the team from him. And it's like -- okay, that is one way to do it. But another way would have been to let him have his team and then let's talk about it together, maybe some penalties.
But, because once you do that, all of the other closet racists just run back in the hole. You haven’t fixed anything. What you’ve done was spray perfume on the trashcan. What you do when you do that is the bugs come and you spray something and you create a superbug. Right. Because you don’t take care of the problem, you don’t take the trash out. You just keep spraying whatever over it to make it acceptable. Then you know, as those things grow, you create a superbug.
And now we have Donald Trump, the superbug. [Extended laughter]JONES: You have a really good point --
JAY-Z: Donald Trump is a human being, too. I just like want you -- I just think, I’m being funny, I say that too. But somewhere along his lineage, something happened to him. Something happened to him and he's in pain and he is expressing it in this sort of way.
At least Jones asked a challenging question after that. He said black unemployment is down, so is there something to the idea that Democrats talk right, but don't bring the jobs? Jones said no.
