Only on Fox News would white Trumper Dan Bongino heckle an African American bishop and civil rights activist for calling Donald Trump a racist. However, Bishop Talbert Swan was so dignified and unwavering that host Laura Ingraham ended the fiery debate by suggesting he could do “some really good things” by working together with Trump.
The discussion started out as yet another excuse to hold up the Covington Catholic students as white racial victims. But the conversation devolved into the significance of the MAGA hats worn by Covington Catholic students, especially student Nick Sandmann, seen smirking at Native American drummer Nathan Phillips in a now-viral video.
“Is the MAGA hat racist?” Ingraham asked skeptically. As she spoke, b-roll footage was shown of the Covington Catholic students doing the tomahawk chop.
Swan probably could not see the footage. He replied that the hat “represents Donald Trump and everything that comes along with Donald Trump.” Since Trump is an “unrepentant racist,” Swan continued, “The MAGA hat, to many, is representative of a Klan hood or various other symbols of racism. Absolutely.”
Bongino hardly seems like an appropriate person to be discussing race relations. The thrice-failed Congressional candidate whose “unglued” behavior got him banned from Fox News @ Night is a loud-mouth who claims he’s dedicated to “owning the libs.”
Yet Swan, who is the president of the Springfield, Massachusetts NAACP, was treated like the one baselessly shooting off his mouth.
“What’s going on here? Is this real? Did he just say that on a cable television?” Bongino asked condemningly.
“I absolutely said it,” Swan replied.
“I’m not willing to defer to the 'man of God' line to you any more after you just said one of the dumbest comments,” Bongino sneered.
“Well, it really doesn’t matter what you refer to me as because you don’t define me,” Swan shot back.
Ingraham never intervened to stop Bongino’s childish attacks. Let’s not forget that not long ago, Ingraham complained, “The America that we know and love doesn’t exist anymore” because of “massive demographic changes.”
Bongino went on to whitesplain to Swan about how great Trump has been for African Americans. “If he’s a racist, he’s the worst racist we’ve seen in American history! … I’m embarrassed for you and you should be, too. What a disgrace!” Bongino thundered.
Swan refused to be drowned out, despite Ingraham’s best efforts. “Donald Trump called African nations ‘s-hole nations.’ He called Mexicans ‘rapists.’ Donald Trump called black athletes ‘sons of bitches.’” Swan said. “Come on, y’all, you want to pretend that the racism that oozes from Donald Trump has not happened?”
Significantly, nobody answered that question. Ingraham changed the subject to tout Trump passing criminal justice reform. “Does that count?” Her voice had an edge.
“It absolutely counts,’ Swan agreed. But, “Because someone got a piece of legislation passed does not mean that we ignore a long, 40-year history.”
Bongino shook his head in disgust and Ingraham sighed melodramatically.
Then Swan got in his best point. “What I can’t believe is that you all are telling me, from the channel who, of one of your anchors said when Trayvon Martin was killed, that if you don’t want to be perceived as a thug, you shouldn’t wear a hoodie. … To tell me that a MAGA hat should not be viewed in a certain way is absolutely hypocritical.”
I give Ingraham credit for saying she thought Swan made “a really good point about profiling people based on what they wear. … And if I’ve ever done that, I’m wrong.” I also give her credit for hosting a strong opponent like Swan and mostly hearing him out. (Tucker Carlson would have spent the segment ridiculing Swan and Sean Hannity probably never would have booked him at all.) However, she also chided, “I think we have to apply that standard across the board.”
Ingraham went on to suggest Swan “work with President Trump.” She said, “I bet you guys could do some really good things together.” That seems highly doubtful to me as Trump's race baiting seems a deliberate part of his branding. But Bongino seemed to think Trump is too high-minded for Swan. “How do you talk to someone who claims when you put a MAGA hat on that you’re the worst scum on the planet, which would be a racist?” Bongino “asked.”
That’s not at all what Swan had said. But Ingraham did not correct the record.
Watch the whitesplaining below, from the January 23, 2019 The Ingraham Angle.