Politics

Pelosi’s daughter, Maher unite to bash the South

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As Alabama and Mississippi prepared for their Tuesday primaries, the water was warm for “aren’t Southerners stupid” jokes on HBO’s “Real Time” Friday night. But host Bill Maher went a step further, deploying House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi’s daughter to Missisippi to find out just how dumb voters are down in the South.

Maher claimed that Pelosi’s daughter, documentary filmmaker Alexandra Pelosi, told him she “did not seek out people who look like what some would say [are] rednecks.”

Pelosi told Maher, “If you took any of the footage we didn’t use, it would look just like the footage we did use.”

Pelosi’s film naturally begins with a stereotypical rendition of “Dixie” and stills of run-down homes. As narrator, Pelosi then points out that Mississippi is the most conservative — and poorest — state in the country.

Pelosi then proceeds to press a number of poor white men on why they are conservatives.

The footage has to be seen to be believed, if only because of how unrepresentative Pelosi’s sample is throughout the film. Pelosi only interviewed white men for the project, even though recent census data shows that the state is 51.4 percent female and just 59.1 percent white.

Nonetheless, the Maher panel appeared relieved that its stereotypes of the South were confirmed by Pelosi’s small, unrepresentative sample.

“By the way, she said she cut out 20 people who also did not have teeth,” Maher said. “Just so you know that is wasn’t like, ‘Oh we’re just going to show the guy with no teeth.’ She had to cut out a lot of people who also didn’t have teeth.”

Maher said he plans to send Pelosi to the inner city in the future.

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Caroline May