Stacy Washington’s Buzz on Bee Makes CNN’s Lemon Sour

CNN host Don Lemon says that Samantha Bee’s use of extremely coarse on-air language against presidential daughter and advisor Ivanka Trump “makes me cringe.” From the behavior of Lemon and the panelists on his show who faced off against Project 21 Co-Chairman Stacy Washington, the cringe-worthiness of it all seems to be that they are having to defend their double-standard.

After ABC cancelled Roseanne Barr’s hit show in the wake of her comments likening former Obama advisor Valerie Jarrett to an ape – something Stacy called “ridiculous,” “awful,” “disgusting” and “demeaning” on CNN – Bee aired a produced segment on her show in which she criticized Ivanka Trump for posting a photo posing with one of her children. While many Trump Administration critics have seized on this photo as a means of complaining about immigration policy, Bee ripped open the envelope of civility by calling Ivanka Trump one of the most crass terms that can be used against a woman, and suggested she lobby her father to change the policy while wearing provocative clothing.

Bee’s show runs on a network that is owned by CNN’s parent company, Time Warner.

In beginning the conversation, Lemon asked Angela Rye, a former executive director of the Congressional Black Caucus, if this “epitomize[s] the lack of civility and polarization of America.” This is the way the left is explaining away their own extremism – as an equal and opposite reaction to what they perceive as coming from President Trump and his supporters.

Rye, citing the Barr comments, pivoted to a backhanded defense of Bee. Noting it came in the wake of the Barr’s controversy, she implied it is being talked-up by those wanting to defend Barr and the President, saying, “all of a sudden, this is the most egregious harm ever.” Calling what Bee said “tasteless,” Rye alluded to Bee’s standing in the liberal hierarchy was at risk by the incident, say “she needed to apologize – she has a platform that’s too important to do otherwise.” But Rye also noted that the term Bee used “doesn’t personally offend me.”

In cutting through the attempt to obfuscate what Bee did, and what Hollywood allows to happen in their efforts to defame conservatives and raise up their own flawed heroes, Stacy said:

If we’re going to talk about the civility or lack thereof, why does Bill Maher still have a show? If just tweeting something vulgar out is the standard, then a lot of other people in Hollywood should not be on the air. They should not be on television if that’s the standard.

So, I think ABC and the production people – the management there – they have every right to fire or not fire. Do what you’re gonna do. But then Samantha Bee says what she said about Ivanka Trump.

It’s the [vulgar comment] – yeah, Don – but it’s also “you know what, put on something low-cut and racy and seduce your father.” Like they have an incestuous relationship. That’s disgusting, vile and hateful toward women.

Angela Rye interjected: “He said he would date her.” Noting Rye’s comment, Stacy continued:

And so he said that ridiculous comment. So we justify adding onto it? Not for me. That’s not OK for me. So I think what we have to do if we want to be honest and have our experiences validated is to admit there’s a double-standard.

So Roseanne lost her job. I’m not defending Roseanne. I’m asking: How does Samantha Bee still have a job?

Dean Obedallah, a CNN “opinion contributor” and SiriusXM radio host, called Bee an “important voice” that he hoped would not be silenced. He spent his time complaining about Barr and President Trump. And he certainly wasn’t prepared for Stacy to call him out on-air when he said: “I would love to see the outrage of Stacy and others on the right to the bigotry and racism of Donald Trump…”

Stacy commented: “I’m sitting here wondering when I became Donald Trump… Please help me understand.” Lemon asked: “Do you criticize him for his comments?”  Stacy replied:

I have thousands of hours of radio out there – and podcasts – where I have definitely criticized the President as well as praised him when I think he’s done something right. I’m not a sycophant.

But it’s not fair for Dean or anyone else who called themselves an opinion writer or reporter or anyone in the media or in the Fourth Estate – when you’re supposed to be reporting, not emoting. For you to equate statements made by someone else to me – unless you researched it, stick to what I’ve said.

At that point, a sour-faced Lemon said: “I gotta go.” End of the segment. Back to the one-sided panels that usually dominate CNN news coverage.



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