MSNBC commentator Donny Deutsch slammed Freedom Caucus chair Mark Meadows (R-NC) for bringing an African American woman to Michael Cohen's Wednesday testimony to the Oversight Committee as proof that neither he nor the president were racists, calling the congressman "racially retarded," but adding somewhat incongruously that he didn't believe Meadows was a racist. "Retarded" is widely used as a slur, and in 2010 President Obama signed legislation replacing the term with "intellectual disability."
"That Meadows absurd debacle, racially retarded -I know that's the wrong word- racially ignorant 'here's this black woman,'" said Deutsch, making jazz hands as he imitated Meadows' big reveal.
"If we're going to have real discussions about race, we have to talk about the gamut of racism," he went on. "There is racial hate and racial superiority and then there's racial ignorance. Do I think Meadows has hate in his heart for black people? No."
Deutsch compared Meadows' to people who tell racist jokes, saying that the congressman is like "so many people do not understand how racist that is."
"Until we can have those honest discussions we can't really get to the core of racism," Deutsch, who is white, said. "What he did and the fact that he was defending it was so obscene and so absurd, it's not hate, it's ignorance."
Meadows has a history of making racially crude comments, including a 2012 incident caught on video in which the Republican promises to "send Mr. Obama home to Kenya or wherever it is."
Watch the video below.
