Politics

Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore Rips Al Sharpton

Jamie Weinstein Senior Writer
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Comedy Central’s Larry Wilmore slammed Al Sharpton Monday night as a media whore.

Wilmore, who hosts “The Nightly Show,” took several digs at Sharpton during a segment on Saturday’s commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the “Bloody Sunday” march in Selma, Ala.

“Now this is the A-Team of civil rights,” Wilmore said, showing a picture of President Barack Obama leading the Selma commemoration Saturday with civil rights leaders like Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis, who participated in and was brutally assaulted during the 1965 march. “Oh, wait a minute. Someone from the B-Team is trying to work their way in there.”

“Is that Sharpton?” Wilmore continued, after zooming in on the picture, which revealed Sharpton’s face in the photo behind Obama’s shoulder. “What the fuck? How did you get in there? Weren’t you just in Seattle marching for black coffee?”

“Sneaking over Obama’s shoulder,” Wilmore went on. “Well, you know what they say, the arch of history always bends towards justice — and Al Sharpton’s face always bends towards the camera.”

WATCH (starting at 1:49):

The segment continued by criticizing House Speaker John Boehner and Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell for not attending Saturday’s commemoration, but not before noting that a higher percentage of Republicans voted for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than Democrats and showing old clips of Democrats like Lester Maddox and George Wallace defending segregation.

“Mitch and John, I get you don’t support Obama, but you could have at least showed up to support John Lewis,” Wilmore concluded. “Your party stood with him in 1965. So shame on you for not standing with him in 2015.”

Though McConnell and Boehner did not attend the memorial, other top Republicans did, including former President George W. Bush and House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy.

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