Larry Elder on Piers Morgan: An Epic Filibuster With Epic Dog Whistles
Los Angeles based talk show host for KABC Radio Larry Elder appeared on Piers Morgan’s show on July 17 to explain his remarks about Morgan’s interview with Rachel Jeantel two days earlier, which could be characterized by these tweets:
To @piersmorgan, L. Pratt, Gun Owners America, is “an unbelievably stupid man.” But #RachelJeantel is “one smart cookie” hat tip: J.Janowski— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 16, 2013
So @piersmorgan describes #RachelJeanel as “one smart cookie”. Sure, it certainly explains why the 19yr. old is still in high school.— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 16, 2013
So @piersmorgan calls #RachelJeantel “one smart cookie”. Great. Hire her as a co-host.— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 16, 2013
On @piersmorgan, he bemoans the “unfair maligning” of Rachel Jeantel. Mr. Morgan, if she were an airline pilot, would you get on the plane?— Larry Elder (@larryelder) July 16, 2013
Morgan began by asking Elder about his harsh criticism, and from the very beginning, Elder launched into a kind of classic Gish Gallup, by loudly spewing talking points about black on black crime, black victimization, and other topics that had nothing to do with what Morgan was asking him:
Every time Morgan tried to steer him back to the original topic, Elder would continue to filibuster, and it veered into some bad bad craziness:
Morgan: Let’s get back to my interview with Rachel Jeantel…because you tweeted at one stage, would I like Rachel Jeantel to fly my plane? Why would you say that?
Elder: Piers, I’ll tell you why I said that. Because after you interviewed her, you condescendingly went on television the next morning and called her “one smart cookie.” Bull! Why don’t you hire her as a nanny and see how smart she is? It’s a condescending kind of -
Morgan: Is she stupid Larry?
Elder: - thing to black people. I think you’re stupid for saying that kind of thing to try and get-
Morgan: That wasn’t my question.
(crosstalk)
Elder: …racism is not a problem in America anymore. The number one problem facing blacl people is the large number of black people born outside of wedlock. 75%. In 1960, 5% of all people in this country were born outside of wedlock. Fast forward, Peirs. The number now is 43%. You look at that, the crime, the dropouts, all that stuff is connected…
And it veers even further off topic into familiar Larry Elder talking points if you’ve heard his show on even a semi-regular basis (the comment about blacks marching on Washington because of the economy if the President were white is one that would kill you in a Larry Elder Show drinking game). But Morgan tries to steer him back to his question:
Morgan: …Let me just get back to the question I asked you and see if you can actually answer the quesetion: Do you think that Rachel Jeantel is stupid?
Elder: I think I would rather have a George Zimmerman living in my neighborhood…if we had more George Zimmerman’s living in my neighborhood, we would have a few fewer Ariel Castro’s. I thought we wanted people to be pro-active -
Morgan: That wasn’t the question Larry (crosstalk)…George Zimmerman shot dead an unarmed teenager.
Elder: - He was a neighborwood watch guy. Don’t you want people to be pro-active? There was crime in that neighborhood Piers! I live in South Central (crosstalk)…the burglar bars aren’t on there because of George Zimmerman. They’re on there because of a minority of thugs in the community that’s messing up everybody’s image and reputation. This is why people profile. Instead of being angry at George Zimmerman, be angry at the minority of thugs committing these types of crimes.
Elder never did answer the question of whether or not he thought Rachel Jeantel is stupid. But he did answer this question:
Morgan: Just out of interest, how many languages do you speak?
Elder: I don’t speak ebonics as well as Rachel if that’s what you mean.
The interview goes on, and just as you expect, conservatives think Elder owned Piers Morgan.
Yeah, by dodging his questions and filibustering…and race baiting.
Really?