Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer angrily rejected CNN anchor Carol Costello’s claim that Republicans must answer for rancher Cliven Bundy’s racist comments, noting that “when similar issues happen on the left, there is ZERO COVERAGE.”
Costello opened the segment with a loaded question. “There are some who say that Mr. Bundy’s racial comments affect the Republican Party as a whole,” she said. “In your mind, does it?”
“No,” Spicer said simply. “What I find fascinating — as the chief spokesman of the Republican Party — is that when a guy who has a problem with cattle grazing, and has a discussion about the size of government and the overreach of the federal government makes a comment, every reporter calls the Republican National Committee asking for comment.”
“But yet when similar incidents happen time and again on the left, there is zero coverage,” he noted. “Absolutely zero.” Spicer noted that anti-black, anti-Semitic comments made by Illinois’ Democratic Governor Pat Quinn were ignored for days by the national media.
Costello pushed back, playing comments from Crystal Wright, editor of ConservativeBlackChick.com, that illustrate how “incensed” some African-Americans are “that conservatives went over to Mr. Bundy’s side.”
“She desperately wants to make the tent bigger. She’s trying,” the CNN anchor lectured. “And now she’s saying this is just uh — this is just a symptom of what is wrong with the Republican Party. They don’t really invite minorities in.”
Spicer refused to play along. “That’s just patently not true,” he retorted. “The issue of Cliven Bundy has absolutely nothing to do with this party. Zero. He is a Nevada rancher that had a beef with the federal government’s continued overreach.”
The spokesman continued to accuse Costello and her colleagues of ignoring similar stories from the left — a charge she half-heartedly denied before turning to Ron Christie, an African-American columnist from The Daily Beast, for support.
But Christie wouldn’t bite either. “I agree with what Sean had to say, and it’s a very important point to make here,” he said. “Mr. Bundy does not speak for the Republican Party.”
“What I take exception to is the sort of feeding frenzy in the media, talking about, oh, Mr. Bundy came out with those racist comments and he somehow embodies all Republicans,” he continued.
“I look back at an individual who is the Senate Majority Leader, who is from Nevada, who referred to President Obama as a ‘Negro’ who is ‘light-skinned,'” he noted, referring to Democratic Sen. Harry Reid.
“If Democrats want to tar the Republican Party with one bigot, with one racist in Nevada who’s a rancher, I suspect we ought to take a look at the Senate Majority Leader from Nevada who used the ‘Negro’ word in very demeaning terms,” Christie asserted.
Costello still wouldn’t give up. “But Ron, I think the problem here is the Democratic Party doesn’t have a problem in attracting minorities and the Republican Party does.”
“Because you guys don’t cover it, though, Carol!” Spicer interrupted.
“Seriously?” Costello retorted mockingly. “Because of the media? Only?” And on it went from there.
Earlier this month Costello lashed out at the Supreme Court for their ruling relaxing some campaign finance laws, and this week she expressed her concern over the Court’s decision to uphold a Michigan law banning affirmative action in public universities.
Content created by The Daily Caller News Foundation is available without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@
All content created by the Daily Caller News Foundation, an independent and nonpartisan newswire service, is available without charge to any legitimate news publisher that can provide a large audience. All republished articles must include our logo, our reporter’s byline and their DCNF affiliation. For any questions about our guidelines or partnering with us, please contact licensing@dailycallernewsfoundation.org.
