“Ratings Matter More Than Brown People”: Samantha Bee Slams NBC And Jimmy Fallon Over Trump
"Sure, he’s making life palpably dangerous for Muslims and immigrants, but hey, he’s good entertainment!"
Late night host Samantha Bee has added her voice to the chorus of people condemning Jimmy Fallon for his softball interview with Donald Trump. In a fiery opening monologue on Monday night’s Full Frontal, Bee said that Fallon and NBC’s treatment of the Republic presidential candidate “tacitly condoned a race-baiting demagogue,” and accused the network of putting ratings ahead of Muslims and immigrants.
People Are Raking Jimmy Fallon Over The Coals For Going Easy On Donald Trump
Referencing the ever-shrinking margin in the polls between Trump and Hillary Clinton, Bee acknowledged the depressing reality that “Americans know Trump is a sexist bigot…they just don’t care. A lot of voters have decided that racism and sexism aren’t great, but they’re not a deal breaker,” she said.
“Why do so many Americans think playing footsie with fringe hate groups isn’t a disqualifier from polite society, much less the presidency?” asked Bee. “Maybe because that’s the message they get from entertainment giants like NBC.”
Bee called bullshit on the network’s claim that it had severed ties with the Republican candidate, pointing to his recent appearance on The Tonight Show as well as his ratings-smash hosting gig on Saturday Night Live last year. “Sure, he’s making life palpably dangerous for Muslims and immigrants, but hey, he’s good entertainment!”
“Network execs and a lot of their audience can ignore how very dangerous Trump is, because to them, he isn’t,” she added. “They’re not gonna be deported. They’re not gonna live under a president who thinks of them as a collection of sex toys. They’re not racist. They just don’t mind if other people are, which is just as bad.”
To cut NBC a tiny bit of slack, not everyone at the network is going easy on The Donald. Seth Meyers, who currently sits in Fallon’s old Late Night chair, has been going after the would-be President all year. On his Monday night show, Meyers labelled Trump “a racist and a liar” after the Republican changed his tune over his role in the birther conspiracy.