New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio says he is “pretty comfortable” with a comedy skit he performed Saturday night with Hillary Clinton in which the pair make a racist joke about black people.
“I’m pretty comfortable with it. It was meant to be a joke on the way we speak. It was obviously not meant to offend anyone,” de Blasio told MSNBC host Chris Hayes during an interview Tuesday night.
“You have to put it in the context of the evening,” he added.
De Blasio and Clinton have come under fire for the comedy skit, which they performed at a charity event at the New York Hilton on Saturday.
De Blasio used the term “CP time” to explain why he was late in endorsing Clinton for president. The term refers to “colored people’s time,” which is a stereotype that black people are often late for events.
Clinton was in on the joke, too. When the audience’s groans had subsided she read her line: “Cautious politician time.”
Hayes was nearly apologetic on Tuesday when asking de Blasio about the uproar.
“I’m going to stipulate this skit is not at all the most important thing in America or politics,” Hayes said.
“I commend you,” de Blasio responded.
But Hayes added that the skit did make him cringe.
“I know a lot of people cringed,” Hayes added before asking de Blasio if he should have apologized for the skit.
“It’s a satire,” de Blasio said dismissively.
“The whole show was a satire. I was mocking myself. I’m sorry, I just think — look, I take full responsibility. Someone else wrote the script, but I approved it. I just think sometimes there’s a place for satire in this world, and that’s what this was.”
But not everyone accepts de Blasio’s explanation.
News 12 interviewed several Bronx residents who were not pleased with the skit.
“I think it was in very poor taste. In this day and age, 2016, especially when we have a black president, after all we’ve been through…to get where we are, I think he should show some respect,” one Bronx resident said.
“I think it’s bull crap,” another woman said.
“When you’re a politician and you’re serving the people you should be more sensitive and think out how other people are going to feel about what your statements are going to be,” a third resident told the TV station.
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