Chelsea Handler says Trump is the 'perfect example of white privilege': 'It's nauseating'
Donald Trump is a “perfect example of white privilege,” according to Chelsea Handler, who is tackling the thorny subject in her new Netflix documentary, Hello Privilege. It’s Me, Chelsea.
In an interview with Chris Cuomo on Cuomo Prime Time on Wednesday night, Handler spoke out about acknowledging her own white privilege, including going unpunished as a teenager using drugs while her then-boyfriend, a black man, would take blame. The former E! talk show host also agreed with Cuomo’s suggestion that Trump takes the opposite approach by telling his supporters that progressive society wants “to punish you for being white.”
’He’s the perfect example of white privilege,” the comedian said. “Let’s keep other people down so we keep winning, so I can keep filling my own pockets. At a certain point if you really want equality, you have to be OK with other people succeeding. That’s what it’s all about. And he and the Republican Party, at this point, are all about no one succeeding except for them.
“That’s all they care about, is money,” she continued, citing the country’s gun control issue. “The NRA is running the Republican Party. Yes, that is — it’s like the pinnacle of white privilege is him. I don’t talk about him too much in the documentary because it’s nauseating and I feel nauseous just talking about him.”
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Handler went on to speak out about the “crosscurrents” of different political values, and even jabbed Cuomo, brother of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, for not doing more to push the legalization of cannabis, saying, “What’s his problem?”
“He’s got a legislature,” the CNN host shot back before telling her that he shouldn’t be held accountable for his politician brother’s promises.
Elsewhere in the interview, Handler spoke of equality for others feeling like a “loss” to those who have long enjoyed it. She admitted that she had always associated the idea of white privilege with the wealthy, but now says that even as the daughter of a used car dealer, she has no doubt benefitted from the color of her skin.
President Trump has not publicly reacted to Handler’s statements.
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