On Monday night, CNN’s Don Lemon invited on liberal New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow and Donald Trump surrogate Bruce LaVell for a little healthy “dialog” on The Donald and his attempts to reach out to African Americans. Things got very ugly very quickly.
When LaVell asked Blow to name a single instance in which Trump had said or done anything that showed him to be bigoted against African Americans, Blow refused to answer, instead asking, “Who is this person and why is he on TV?” an attitude he maintained throughout the increasingly hostile debate. Blow eventually blasted Trump as a “bigot” in general and accused LaVell of participating in that bigotry by shilling for him (video below).
“Name one statement that you’ve heard Donald Trump say about African Americans,” said LaVell.
“First of all, be quiet—the way I was being quiet when you were talking,” Blow said. “Right, that’s how this works.”
“Name one… No, no, name one,” said LaVell when Blow began to redirect.
“I don’t want to do that,” said Blow, asking Lemon to step int to shut LaVell up.
Lemon told LaVell that if Blow didn’t want to answer his question he didn’t have to.
“Because he can’t,” said LaVell.
Blow then laughed, “Who is this person and why is he on TV?”
“Why are you on TV?” LaVell fired back.
“Here’s the deal: Donald Trump is a bigot,” said the NYT columnist. “There’s no other way to get around it.”
“Wow,” said LaVell.
“Anybody who … accepts that, supports it,” continued Blow. “Anybody who supports it is promoting it. And that makes you a part of the bigotry itself. You have to decide whether you want to be part of the sexism and misogyny that is Donald Trump. You have to decide whether you want to be part of the bullying that would allow him to make fun of one of my disabled colleagues at the New York Times. You have to decide that. There is no other space for you. There is no place for you to say, ‘I’m going to put that to the side because I believe in conservative principles’… Your party has now decided that this is your person. This con man is your front man. And you have to decide whether you’re going to follow that.”
“Well, Charles, I’m sorry that you can’t answer the question,” said LaVell.
“I don’t know you. And I don’t want to talk to you. And I don’t want to answer your questions,” Blow responded.
“We knew back last year that the Clinton campaign was gonna try to bait and create this false facade of Donald Trump being someone that he’s not,” said LaVell.
“I’m not part of the Clinton campaign, I’m a black man in America, and I know a bigot when I see a bigot,” replied Blow, returning to his accusations that LaVell was thus a “bigot” by extension. “And you are supporting a bigot, and that makes you part of the bigotry that is Donald Trump.”
“And I know someone that doesn’t tell the truth on national TV when I see it, sir,” LaVell replied, adding later, “You can’t sit on national TV and call someone a racist, sir.”
While Blow declared that what African Americans really need is the “dismantling of white supremacy in all of its forms,” LaVell argued that much of the “stuff about race” is “totally false” and that there are more pressing concerns for African Americans, like terrorism, debt and the economy that are not being discussed.
Partial transcript via TheBlaze.
