The “Nightly Show” host explained the “one-drop” rule, which was used throughout much of American history to justify racist laws against “any person with even one ancestor of sub-Saharan-African ancestry”.
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TA-NEHISI COATES: Well I don’t know what makes Rupert Murdoch – or frankly anybody else – but certainly least of all Rupert Murdoch a judge of what is really black and what isn’t really black. He’s the 84-year-old media mogul worth over $12 billion.
“Wonderful character, up from Detroit ghetto, sadly seems political naif”, he tweeted in March.
Ben Carson polls improving every week.
The Australian-American business leader had previously praised Carson on Twitter and had urged followers “to not miss Ben Carson on Kelly File”.
Murdoch continued to heap praise on Carson late Wednesday with the tweet that prompted Carson’s defense today.
“In contrast, the Republican presidential candidate has hesitated to view issues through a racial lens, and has, for example, criticised Black Lives Matters activists for “creating strife”.
News Corp and 21st Century Fox, firms which Murdoch chairs and co-chairs respectively, did not immediately respond to request for comment early Thursday.
As the months have progressed, Murdoch has turned more positive. Although many would argue his tweet wasn’t an example of “racism”, especially considering his strong support of Dr. Carson, the naysayers jumped to Twitter to call him just that.
He added that the elderly media baron’s Fox News Channel has been “an enemy of African-American struggles since it started”.
According to analysis by the liberal watchdog Media Matters for America, Carson made only five appearances on Fox News in July, when he still polled in the single digits.
And weeks later, he offered his opinion on the prospects of Vice President Biden entering race for the Democratic nomination. It is, as Murdoch said, worth reading.
But Murdoch’s admiration for Carson precedes the Trump boom.
Murdoch is an unusual user of Twitter, occasionally dashing off his thoughts about politics and world affairs without ever quite mastering the medium.
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Ben Carson speaks to the crowd during a campaign rally held at Spring Arbor University in Spring Arbor, Mich., on September 23, 2015.
