Samantha Bee, the late-night host who famously called Ivanka Trump a vulgar slur on her show “Full Frontal,” took time out Wednesday to lecture Americans over our racism and assure China that we know the coronavirus is “not your bad.”
“When everything is stressful, nothing makes us feel more secure than treating other people like trash,” she said, speaking on behalf of Americans. She said racism is “like America’s weighted blanket” and tying the coronavirus to China, where virologists say it likely started, “isn’t just a racist dog whistle—it’s a whole racist orchestra.”
Bee addressed a near-empty studio due to recommendations from health experts, The Guardian reported.
“We have some people, but they work for us and they are sitting six feet apart as recommended by the CDC. And also because they hate each other,” she joked.
The coronavirus, or COVID-19, has stoked fears across the globe and prompted governments to take extraordinary steps in preventing the spread. There has been much debate about the virus’ origin, which evidence suggests started at a “wet market” in Wuhan, China.
Media outlets, including the Washington Post, first referred to the disease as the Wuhan Virus, but later changed its name at the direction by the World Health Organization. Some Republicans have been criticized as racist for referring to the virus’ original name, which they say is unfair and inaccurate due to the origins.
Bee’s comments come after Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., who said in an Instagram live video that these restaurants “are feeling the pain of racism. Where people are literally not patroning Chinese restaurants, um, they’re not patroning Asian restaurants because of just straight-up racism around the coronavirus.”
Ocasio-Cortez was called out by Dr. Sebastian Gorka on the “Todd Starnes Radio Show” over the comments and her use of the word “patroning.”
In 2018, the White House condemned Bee over remarks she made during an opening monologue that touched on the crackdown on the southern border. She showed a photo of Ivanka Trump and her son and called her a “feckless c***.”
TBS said at the time that it regretted airing the comments, according to NBC News. Bee later apologized.