The White House is defending late night comedian Larry Wilmore’s use of the n-word during his routine at the White House Correspondents’ Dinner over the weekend, saying that the president “appreciated the spirit and the sentiments that Mr. Wilmore expressed”, the Washington Post reports. Larry Wilmore, comedian and host of the Comedy Central’s “The Nightly Show”, poked fun at journalists like Don Lemon and Jake Tapper, and President Obama’s much-delayed plan to close the prison at Guantanamo Bay. So Mr. President I’m going to keep it 100: “Yo Barry, you did it my n–” Wilmore said as he pounded his chest. For instance, he said of Obama’s graying hair, “Your hair is so white that it tried to punch me at a Trump rally”. Many people were upset about it. Many people supported it. And like the president himself, the reaction was mixed.
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“Words alone do me no justice”.
The host took specific aim at Piers Morgan’s inability to “conjugate the slur” after Morgan wrote a Daily Mail column criticizing Wilmore’s performance as an offensive publicity stunt to garner global attention. “That’s why Wilmore’s use of it was as shocking as it was disrespectful”.
Obama hugged and Wilmore after his remarks, but the use of the n-word drew harsh criticism. Wilmore took the time to clarify the difference between this word, and what he actually said.
“Okay, That’s terrible. I would never do that”.
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His colloquialism was digested as ni**a with the “hard r” by Morgan who slammed Wilmore for disrespecting the president with the word. Bernie Sanders, who was in attendance, when he said: “Bernie, you look like a million bucks. To put it in terms you’ll understand, you look like 37,000 donations of $27 each”.
