everyday racism

Don’t Try to Gaslight Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie About Trump’s Racism

Photo: BBC Newsnight/YouTube

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie and R. Emmett Tyrrell, editor-in-chief of American Spectator, went toe-to-toe on BBC Newsnight to talk Trump. Things started to get hairy when journalist Emily Maitlis brought up the Ku Klux Klan’s support of Donald Trump and Tyrrell attempted to downplay the organization’s role in Trump’s election.

Adichie said, “You know, I find it really interesting. It seems to be a refusal to accept reality. So, [Maitlis] asked a question about the KKK and it hasn’t been engaged with, and instead we’re being told that there’s this other group called the Knights of whoever … The point is, the KKK exists. The KKK endorsed Donald Trump. The KKK stands for white supremacy, and that has to be acknowledged.”

Later in the discussion, as Tyrrell continued to insist Trump hasn’t been racist, she added, “I am sorry, but if you are a white man you don’t get to define what racism is … No, you don’t get to sit there and say that he hasn’t been racist when objectively, he has.”

Tyrrell, who was at various points talking over both Adichie and Maitlis, launched into an explanation of the Marxist theory of false consciousness, and complained, “I can’t even open my mouth here because I am a white male.” Then he twisted himself into a pretzel defending Trump’s comment about Judge Curiel, noting that when he himself looked at the judge, “He didn’t look any color other than my color.”

Check out the clip and marvel at Adichie’s incredible patience and excellent fashion sense.

Don’t Gaslight Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie About Trump’s Racism