On Tuesday's New Day, the CNN studio was acting as a glass house while stones were being thrown as comedian D.L. Hughley was welcomed onto the show to share his views on President Donald Trump making a crack about Pocahontas and Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren during a ceremony honoring Native-American veterans.
After Hughley had spent most of the segment complaining that too many Americans have been tolerating racism from Trump -- even claiming that most Presidents have been "racist" so Trump is both "racist" and "retro" -- Hughley ended up making a joke about blacks and Mexicans only spending time together in prison riots, inspiring host Chris Cuomo to laugh.
As he derided Trump's personality, the liberal comedian also described him as "the black dude everybody thought Barack Obama would be." Hughley:
This could not exist if the American population were tired of it. I think Barack Obama held a mirror up to America, and Donald Trump smashed it. I think that he is -- let me tell you something, Donald Trump is uncouth, he's not bright, he is inarticulate, he's an embarrassment. He's the black dude everybody thought Barack Obama would be. And if it were any -- if Barack Obama were acting just like him, he'd already be impeached.
Earlier in the segment, after Hughley complained about those who are still supporting President Trump, host Cuomo recalled that he had been "excited" to get Hughley on the show:
Yeah, you make this point a lot -- and it's one of the reasons I was excited to have you on the show -- you don't want to spend too much time attacking what you think is obvious about the President. You say people need to look at themselves about why they support it?
A bit later, as he complained about Trump's call for immigration restrictions on Muslims during the campaign, the liberal comedian fretted that "white dudes with three names" are more dangerous than Muslims:
Let me tell you something: White guys with three names are more different -- are more dangerous to America than dudes with a Muslim name. I'm more scared of Lee Harvey Oswald than a (Muslim) dude, so it's amazing. And it plays to them.
Toward the end of the segment, Hughley promoted his latest tour with other comedians like George Lopez, and ended up undermining the segment's anti-racism premise as he made a joke at the expense of blacks and Hispanics:
We're all on tour together. George (Lopez) brought us all together, like it's a black guy and a Mexican guy. Usually, when you see black dudes and Mexicans, it's at a prison riot, but this time.
Host Cuomo seemed to find nothing questionable about the joke as he laughed.
Below is a transcript of relevant portions of the Tuesday, November 28, New Day on CNN:
8:52 a.m. ET
D.L. HUGHLEY, COMEDIAN: So he clearly is a racist. And to pretend that he's not, yesterday he's honoring Native-Americans in front of a portrait of Andrew Jackson, who was called "Sharp Knife." He killed tons of Indians, so he can't pretend. It wasn't just the slur -- it's that he did it in front of someone who murdered -- the Trail of Tears was based on the guy that was behind him in the portrait.
CHRIS CUOMO: The constant defense is: "That's not what he means. The Andrew Jackson thing, he had no idea about his history -- it wasn't well-thought --"
HUGHLEY: Then he's too dumb to be President. If he has no idea of history, he's too dumb to be President. But more than anything else, Donald Trump is -- listen, we've had more Presidents who were racist than who weren't. Donald Trump is not new -- Donald Trump is retro. And I think he appeals to a lot of people. You can say -- we can go back and forth, but ultimately a large percentage of Americans -- 80 something percent of Republicans support him. A large percentage of evangelicals support him. If the American population were tired of what he was doing and didn't like what he was doing, it wouldn't happen.
CUOMO: Yeah, you make this point a lot -- and it's one of the reasons I was excited to have you on the show -- you don't want to spend too much time attacking what you think is obvious about the President. You say people need to look at themselves about why they support it?
HUGHLEY: Look, he -- he -- he decries what Colin Kaepernick's peaceful protest of America, right? It's peaceful protest. But he wants statues to Robert E. Lee who led a violent protest of America. Robert E. Lee killed more Americans than Hitler, and you want a statue to him, but you want to denigrate Colin Kaepernick.
CUOMO: Do you think it's about black people? Do you think that's why he's doing it? Or do you think he thinks these things work for him politically?
HUGHLEY: Well, I can't really decide why he does these things. I know that he's had a problem with black people for a long time and people of color for a long time, so this -- you know, just like when the Muslim thing happens, he wants to ban Muslims. Let me tell you something: White guys with three names are more different -- are more dangerous to America than dudes with a Muslim name. I'm more scared of Lee Harvey Oswald than a dude, so it's amazing. And it plays to them.
(...)
8:55 a.m. ET
HUGHLEY: This could not exist if the American population were tired of it. I think Barack Obama held a mirror up to America, and Donald Trump smashed it. I think that he is -- let me tell you something, Donald Trump is uncouth, he's not bright, he is inarticulate, he's an embarrassment. He's the black dude everybody thought Barack Obama would be. And if it were any -- if Barack Obama were acting just like him, he'd already be impeached.
(...)
8:57 a.m. ET
HUGHLEY: We're all on tour together. George (Lopez) brought us all together, like it's a black guy and a Mexican guy. Usually, when you see black dudes and Mexicans, it's at a prison riot, but this time.
