Breitbart News campaign reporter Patrick Howley has an unusually hip breakdown on Donald Trump‘s VP Mike Pence‘s infamous debate line to Hillary Clinton‘s VP Tim Kaine: “You whipped out that Mexican thing again.”
CNN Political contributor Van Jones found the remark racist.
Others, like The Nation‘s Joan Walsh, insinuated that it was a dick joke.
“When you say ‘whip out that Mexican thing’…black folks and Latinos…there’s a dismissiveness,” said Jones.
Howley, who voluntarily quit Twitter several months ago but is still on Facebook, was itching to vent about it:
“Okay, Van, let’s unpack this.”
The Breitbart News reporter said he can use “whip out that Mexican thing” in a “variety of charming, erudite, or triumphant ways”:
1) I’m on the dance floor, maybe in a nightclub, raising my hands above my head and going “Woot Woot.” Everyone is enjoying the spirited revelry. A group of dancers turn to me, looking for a cue. “Whip out that Mexican thing!” I shout, as everyone cheers and boogies harder.
2) A guy owes me money. My bodyguard Tito and I chase him into a back alley, where he’s unable to scale a chain-link fence to escape. We sit him up against a wall and I slap him in the face a few times. Tito reaches for his brass knuckles. I turn to Tito. “Whip out that Mexican thing” I instruct.
3) I’m trapped in the Mahalangur mountains after an avalanche leaves me stranded with my loyal sherpa Ban-Yee. Fearing starvation after 3 nights, I remember that Ban-Yee has packed a burrito with him. “Whip out that Mexican thing” I say, overjoyed at my good fortune.
Howley concluded, “See? Settled.”
The Breitbart reporter said he didn’t find Pence’s comment to be racist, although he did concede it had a sexual component.
“I think I’ve said that myself a couple of times in the last year,” Howley said, joking, “I actually prepped Pence. I said, ‘Use the Mexican line.'”
Was he surprised some people found the line racist?
“People find everything racist,” he said. “I can’t walk down the street without being called a racist. Everything’s racist.”
The upcoming election is weighing heavily on Howley’s mind.
What does he think will happen?
“Either I run Washington or I go to prison,” he replied.
Why prison?
“Oh God knows. They’ll find something,” he said. “By the way, for the record I haven’t done anything illegal. They’d have to make something up.”