The catastrophic fallout from Samantha Bee’s “C” word incident received surprisingly fair and reasonable coverage yesterday from CNN’s New Day. Sadly, that lasted just twenty-four hours, when this morning on New Day, hosts Alisyn Camerota and John Berman had on comedians Maysoon Zayid and Alise Morales to discuss Bee’s vile comments.
Zayid was quick to push aside Bee’s guilt saying that she used a word “that we hear in comedy clubs every day” and “didn’t know until we heard the backlash that it was off limits.” She also took offense to comparisons made between Bee’s comments towards First Daughter Ivanka Trump and Roseanne Barr’s racist Twitter tirade, saying “there’s a huge difference between having a potty mouth and using racial slurs.”
Zayid also said that the Roseanne comparison was unfair because Bee’s comments were a one-time incident while Roseanne has demonstrated “a history of bigotry and racism.” This point was later contradicted by Alise Morales. Morales defended Bee’s comments by saying that Bee had always been this way and people are only getting angry now because they are looking for someone comparable to Roseanne. Morales said:
I feel like people were looking to create a comparison and that’s why they jumped on this Samantha Bee thing. I don't think it's actually necessarily that different than other things she's done on her show. She’s always had that kind of bombastic style. This is the style her show has taken for a long time.
Morales also defended Bee’s comments on the grounds that they were made about the president’s daughter:
When you look at Ivanka Trump, she's one of the most powerful women in our country. She's not just the president's daughter, she’s an advisor, she’s representing us on the world stage. Samantha Bee runs a political comedy show so taking aim at Ivanka Trump doesn't seem inappropriate to me. When you look at Roseanne's comments you know, she's comparing an African-American woman to an ape, that's something, that’s the epitome of punching down.
Zayid echoed a similar sentiment saying that while she wouldn’t use the “C” word, “I won’t say that it’s not okay for other women to choose to use it.”
It is absolutely wrong to call a woman the “C” word. However, the moral relativism of the left naturally leads to the conclusion that it is allowed if the correct intersectional categories are checked off by the offender and if they agree with the offender’s politics. It would be wrong if it was a random woman on the street but it is okay if it is the president’s daughter. It would be wrong if a man said it but it is okay because Samantha Bee said it. This is the antithesis of individual responsibility.
Here is a full transcript of the June 1st segment
New Day with Chris Cuomo and Alisyn Camerota
6/1/18
8:49:23 – 8:53:38 4 min 15 sec
ALISYN CAMEROTA: What is the difference between what Samantha Bee did and what Roseanne Barr did?
MAYSOON ZAYID: There's a huge difference between having a potty mouth and using racial slurs and honestly, I find it offensive that these two things are being conflated. I also think it’s interesting because I thought that using words like that was just locker room talk. So when I see the tweet from Trump saying that she should be fired, I just want to know like where is the line? The "C" word’s a no the "P" word's a yes. Has he ever apologized to you know, Colin Kaepernick’s mom for calling her the "B" word. And I guess we have to spell everything today so not only is there a double standard, but the double standard is not between Roseanne, who has a history, a history of bigotry, racism. She uses the "R" word. Her hate doesn’t discriminate. And Samantha Bee using a curse that honestly we hear in comedy clubs every day. And I didn’t know until we heard the backlash that it was off limits and I think we need to be really careful telling comedians what they can and can’t say to power.
JOHN BERMAN: I guess another way to look at this though is let’s not bother using the president’s standard. What should our societal standard be on this Alise and, is it ok, you know is it just potty mouth to call someone a feckless “C” word.
ALISE MORALES: You know I think in comedy a standard that we like to hold ourselves to is looking at is what we're saying punching up? Are we speaking truth to power? When you look at Ivanka Trump, she's one of the most powerful women in our country. She's not just the president's daughter, she’s an advisor, she’s representing us on the world stage. Samantha Bee runs a political comedy show so taking aim at Ivanka Trump doesn't seem inappropriate to me. When you look at Roseanne's comments you know, she's comparing an African-American woman to an ape, that's something, that’s the epitome of punching down. That's something that has been used for decades now to degrade and dehumanize black women. So I think there’s a huge difference between on a political comedy show coming for someone who is in politics.
BERMAN: I guess I’m saying I don't think you have to compare the two to say that what Samantha bee said was wrong.
CAMEROTA: Yes, except as Maysoon points out, what is the line? Let’s try to figure out what the line is because I'm personally confused. You, Maysoon are a disability advocate. You're disabled. I'm wondering are there third rails that comedians shouldn't touch right now like race, like disabilities perhaps? Can you call somebody a terrorist? What's the line right now?
ZAYID: Well I think all is fair in comedy. I think that comedians push lines we cross lines; it's a job hazard but I think that context also matters. And I think it's really interesting again that people are grabbing their smelling salts because she uses the “C” word. I personally don't use the “B” word or “C” word in my comedy because I think it's misogynistic and violent. But, at the same time I won’t say that it’s not ok for other women to choose to use it. And I think again, it's odd that we're fainting about the “C” word and we're ignoring what she actually said, that children are being torn away from their parents.
BERMAN She said that’s what’s too bad about this is that people are focusing on the “C” word instead of, you know, immigration issues. But isn't that her fault? Shouldn't she have known better that if I say this out loud then people aren't going to focus on the other message?
MORALES: I don’t know necessary because I do, I personally feel like if Samantha bee had done that segment and used that word not on the back of Roseanne being cancelled that, I don't know that this controversy would have happened around it. I feel like, people who were upset about the cancellation of Roseanne were looking for something to jump on to and create a comparison. You know it started with, It was Bill Maher first on twitter, they wanted to talk about comparisons to Donald Trump --
BERMAN: Keith Olbermann.
MORALES: Yeah exactly so I feel like people were looking to create a comparison and that’s why they jumped on this Samantha Bee thing. I don't think it's actually necessarily that different than other things she's done on her show. She’s always had that kind of bombastic style. This is the style her show has taken for a long time.
