Wrapping up an interview with left-wing music mogul Russell Simmons on Monday’s CBS This Morning, co-host Charlie Rose wondered: “Are you ready for President Trump?” Simmons sarcastically replied: “No. I think I'm ready for him to win the Republican primary. That’d be good.”
Fellow co-host Gayle King encouraged him to hammer the GOP frontrunner: “You wrote a letter to him, Russell, you wrote an open letter and basically said, 'Stop the B.S.' Have you heard from him?” Simmons ranted: “He said things that have fueled fires of hate and that’s hurt me because I've known him for so long...And I think that there’s a piece of America that’s still fighting this shift towards tolerance and love for each other.”
He continued: “And those people are supporting him, a great number of them, and some are for other reasons, this anger. And he’s doing – he’s saying everything that could hurt under-served communities and he’s really getting a lot of support.”
While the CBS hosts urged Simmons to pass judgment on Trump, neither of them bothered to bring up any of the hateful rhetoric uttered by the outspoken liberal.
In 2010, Simmons bizarrely blamed “Christians” for the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. He later corrected his mistake, insisting that he meant to blame Christians for the Oklahoma City bombing instead.
In 2013, Simmons launched into a vicious Twitter rant against CNN anchor Don Lemon, slamming the journalist as a “slave” and “dangerous talking head” who was doing a “disservice to the black community.” Lemon’s crime? Agreeing with Fox News host Bill O’Reilly about problems in the black community.
Also in 2013, Simmons became embroiled in controversy after he posted a “Harriet Tubman Sex Tape” comedy skit on his YouTube channel.
Here is a transcript of the exchange on the January 11 CBS This Morning:
8:48 AM ET
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CHARLIE ROSE: Are you ready for President Trump?
RUSSELL SIMMONS: Trump?
ROSE: Yeah.
SIMMONS: No. I think I'm ready for him to win the Republican primary. That’d be good.
GAYLE KING: You wrote a letter to him, Russell, you wrote an open letter and basically said, “Stop the B.S.” Have you heard from him? And you two are friends. You two are friends.
SIMMONS: We’ve been friends for many years. I'm surprised at his views on immigration and on people in general. He said things that have fueled fires of hate and that’s hurt me because I've known him for so long, and you've known him, not as this kind of person. And I think that there’s a piece of America that’s still fighting this shift towards tolerance and love for each other. And those people are supporting him, a great number of them, and some are for other reasons, this anger.
KING: Yeah.
SIMMONS: And he’s doing – he’s saying everything that could hurt under-served communities and he’s really getting a lot of support.
ROSE: Thanks for coming, Russell. Great to see you.
(...)
