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“CNN NewsNight” Abby Phillip sat quietly on Wednesday as a white comedian who worked for late-night hosts Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart lectured Republican strategist Shermichael Singleton about race.

President Donald Trump held an event celebrating Black History Month on Wednesday, during which Washington, D.C., resident Forlecia Cook, tore into critics who claimed Trump was racist. After Singleton, who is black, described the characterization of Republicans as “racist” by Xochitl Hinojosa, a former communications director for the Democratic National Committee, as “B.S.,” podcaster Paul Mecurio cut in.

“You cannot cast aspersions on an entire party,” Singleton told Phillip, who had claimed the Trump administration was “explicitly anti-diversity,” before Mecurio responded, “The vast majority of the party supports everything he does, including this. Okay? Ana did a great job of ticking off several things that he’s done. What we shouldn’t do is sit here and pretend that the facts aren’t the facts. Okay?”

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“Why isn’t a flag at half-staff for Jesse Jackson?” Mecurio continued. “You wrote an amazing book about Jesse Jackson, who was instrumental in changing the way the Democratic Party pulled in minorities. And there’s not a flag for this guy? So with all due respect, if you want to mince words about was it all the Republicans, half the Republicans, three quarters of the Republicans —”

The Rev. Jesse Jackson, a civil rights leader and two-time Democratic presidential candidate, died Tuesday morning, months after being hospitalized for treatment of progressive supranuclear palsy.

“Words matter. We talked —” Singleton said before Mecurio cut him off, saying, “Hang on a second. Hang on a second. The point is, the point is that it’s very simple for the average guy and woman sitting at home. They look at a pattern of behavior of any human being and say, ‘That’s what that guy is.’ Trump has gone from 30% to 13.5% black voter support in the last year. Do you know why he’s doing the slavery thing in Philadelphia?”

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“I’m a strategist. I don’t need to be lectured on electoral Politics,” Singleton responded, with Mecurio responding, “I’m not lecturing, but I should be — the fact that you’re an African-American doesn’t mean that I can’t make this point. That’s not fair. You’re trying to manipulate the conversation.”

Phillip called out “Shark Tank” star Kevin O’Leary on Tuesday for describing left-wing panelists on the show as “nuts.” She also banned conservative commentator Ryan James Girdusky after he joked about left-wing commentator Mehdi Hasan’s pager detonating after Hasan called him a “Nazi” during the Oct. 28, 2024, episode of “CNN NewsNight.”

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