Tina Fey’s Response To The White Supremacist Rally In Charlottesville Has Divided The Internet
Not everybody was laughing.
Tina Fey has become the latest in a long line of media personalities to weigh in on the horrific events in Charlottesville, Virginia. But while the 30 Rock creator/star had some strong words for President Trump, not everyone was impressed with her suggestion of what to do in the face of facism.
Fey stopped by the set of Saturday Night Live for the latest installment of “Weekend Update: Summer Edition”. Sitting alongside hosts Michael Che and Colin Jost, Fey slammed Trump for his failure to properly condemn the perpetrators of racist violence.
“I’ve seen Raiders of the Lost Ark, and I wasn’t confused by it,” she said. “Nazis are always bad.”
Fey went on to address the helplessness that many people feel in situations like this, before offering up some advice on how to handle the stress.
“Instead of participating in the screaming matches and potential violence, find a local business you support,” she said. “Maybe a Jewish-run bakery, or an African-American-run bakery. Order a cake with the American flag on it… and just eat it.”
And with that, Fey pulled out a cake, and started wolfing it down right there behind the desk.
Even with her mouth full of dessert, Fey managed to get a few more good burns in, calling Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan a “pussy” and debunking the bullshit argument that both sides were somehow responsible for what happened in Charlottesville.
“The other side is Nazis and klansmen!” she said. “Who drove the car into the crowd, Hillary’s emails?”
But a number of social media users have since taken issue with Fey’s advice, which is essentially to do nothing.
God knows stress eating can be cathartic. But when there are literal Nazis marching in the street, it might pay to be a little bit more proactive.
tina fey: eating cake and not paying attention is actually a form of activism!
white feminism: YASSSS QUEEN!!
— jack wagner (@jackdwagner) August 18, 2017
Quite literally lol’d at Tina Fey trending. Y’all love white feminism even more than white supremacy. If only sheet cake freed my ancestors.
— Creighton Leigh (@1CreightonLeigh) August 18, 2017
And yes, the sketch was meant as a joke. But it still arguably speaks to a mindset that helped Trump get elected in the first place.
it’s cute that Tina Fey wants everyone to ignore white supremacists because “they’re morons” but the last time we tried to ignore one… pic.twitter.com/eBvEBNDIgR
— Zachary Fox (@zackfox) August 18, 2017
I love you, Tina Fey, but that sheet-caking segment just encapsulated white avoidance, ie how Trump got elected in the first place.
— Beth Elderkin (@BethElderkin) August 18, 2017
It also doesn’t help that Fey has frequently been criticised as a white feminist who sometimes fails to take into account the experiences of other minorities.
Tina Fey adapts “don’t show up” as an anti-fascism strategy from her years of doing the same for people of color, queer people, lower-clas—
— Avery Edison (@aedison) August 18, 2017
remember when tina fey just went “eh i’m over listening to criticism” when kimmy schmidt got hit over how it handles race
— Colin Spacetwinks (@spacetwinks) August 18, 2017
And yes, in case you were wondering, the backlash against the backlash has already begun.
Y’all REALLY need to brush up on satire. Tina Fey wasn’t saying “do nothing.” She was MOCKING the people who do nothing. #WeekendUpdate
— FangirlNikkolai (@Nicolothy) August 18, 2017