CNN contributor Symone Sanders on Friday defended the New York Times’ newest hire, Sarah Jeong, after her anti-white and anti-male tweets resurfaced.
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“No, I don’t think Sarah’s tweets are racist. Look, first of all, I think it’s important to note that these tweets were dug up by a right-wing — it’s not even conservative. It was a right-wingers, people that identify with the white supremacist ideology and they were taken out of context,” Sanders said during an appearance on “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon.”
“Some of the tweets are taken out of context. I think in Sarah’s explanation, she noted some of it was counter-trolling,” she continued. “It’s not racist for this reason: One, Don, racism, being racist is not just prejudice, it’s prejudice plus power. So one could argue that some of her tweets, even within context, note that she has a prejudice, perhaps, against white men. But that, in fact, does not make her racist. I don’t think she’s a racist.”
On top of having racist tweets revealed on Thursday, more tweets against men and law enforcement also resurfaced. (RELATED: NYT’s Sarah Jeong Also Sent Anti-Cop, Anti-Men Tweets)
“I don’t think it makes her a bigot either,” Sanders concluded. “Could she be prejudiced, could she some not just implicit, but negative bias towards white men in America due to perhaps what she’s experienced throughout her life? Probably, absolutely. Does that mean, though, that she is, in fact, racist? No.”