News Nation Anchor Chris Comeau criticized comedian Dave Chappelle Chappelle, who made a joke about Israel during a stand-up special on Tuesday, said he should have told the audience “he converted to Islam” before making such a joke.
In criticizing Chappelle’s recent Netflix comedy special, Cuomo complained that many of the issues Chappelle joked about were “absolutely not funny, and a lot of it in this special may not be funny, depending on your point of view.”
Cuomo criticized Chappelle for making transgender jokes in “a society known for repression” in Saudi Arabia, then took aim at the comedian’s Muslim faith, accusing him of “spreading anti-Semitism.”
In response to Chappelle’s mic drop joke about Israel, Cuomo said:
I believe he should get back on the mic because it was a terrible way to end. You can never say, “I stand with Israel” because you will never believe that? Because you will never see any value in supporting the existence and survival of a country and people that are surrounded by people who want to destroy them, and who act on them regularly (if not periodically)? I don’t think this is funny, and as someone who implores us to believe that he wishes no ill will toward trans people or anyone else he jokes about or targets, he should be more aware of spreading anti-Semitism, especially now. He should probably tell you that he converted to Islam 20 years ago.
I think it might have something to do with him. Why? We have to know that there’s a huge difference between being a Muslim and caring about Islam and being a radical Islamist, okay? I can’t tell from Dave Chappelle’s behavior how devout a Muslim he is. I mean, he smoked and drank everywhere. I mean, I’m not saying he strictly keeps his word, right? But his understanding of faith clearly informed his politics.
Cuomo and his brother, former New York governor Andrew CuomoBoth men have been accused of making Islamophobic remarks over the years.
In 2014, the NewsNation host was criticized for suggesting that Muslims were “unusually violent” and “barbaric.”
“The Muslim world bears a large share of the responsibility for religious extremism right now, and they are incredibly violent and incredibly brutal in the places where it happens,” Cuomo said at the time. “And it happens more there than anywhere else. So you want to generalize? Of course not. But you do want to call this situation what it is.”
He continued, “It’s no coincidence that ISIS starts with ‘I.’ I mean, that’s what’s happening in that part of the world.”
Watch above via NewsNation.
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