It’s a testament to how baffled everyone is at this juncture in American life that almost no one predicted the aftermath of Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet correctly. No one—not even Barr’s harshest critics—expected ABC to actually cancel the show, which had given the network a much-needed ratings bonanza. Working under the same assumption, some on the right briefly tried to argue that comparing Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett to apes was acceptable. Fox host Eric Bolling reassured Barr (in a now-deleted Tweet) that “no apology necessary at all.” Conservative loudmouth Bill Mitchell tried to argue (in a now-deleted Tweet) that the apes in Planet of the Apes were the heroes, so the comparison was actually flattering. One sensed that pundits on the right were privately waiting for Donald Trump to tweet in Roseanne’s support; if he had, the Defend-Roseanne machine would have fully activated. But Trump’s loyalties are fickle, and his signal for how to handle the scandal facing his biggest supporter in Hollywood didn’t come. (His eventual Wednesday tweet—it should be no surprise—was more about himself than about Barr.)
from Stories from Slate https://ift.tt/2LM9TOL
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