Newsmax Anchor Greg Kelly's Racially Charged Tweets Under Review By Far-Right Channel
Newsmax anchor Greg Kelly’s tweets on Sunday were so racially charged that even the far-right network said it was investigating.
The ultra-conservative host posted a pair of awkward tweets that he later deleted and tried to explain away.
Kelly wrote that knowing the secretary of defense (William Cohen) was white when he was a U.S. Marine pilot “made a big difference with ‘morale.’” In another tweet, he said knowing that then-President Bill Clinton was “a Caucasian male” made “it all worthwhile.”
In a statement, Newsmax says it understands Greg Kelly’s tweets to be a sarcastic attempt to “indicate his opposition to racism.” But adds:
“We at Newsmax never countenance the posting of racist views or views ⁰that appeal to racists. We are currently reviewing the matter.” pic.twitter.com/xz9YNFDpWk— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) June 13, 2021
Kelly followed up by writing that “being a MARINE had nothing to do with RACE.” He also noted that former New York Mayor David Dinkins (which he misspelled as Dinkens) officiated at his wedding in 2017. Dinkins, who died in 2020, was New York’s first Black mayor.
In a response posted by The Washington Post’s Jeremy Barr (who also posted the original tweets), the network said Kelly’s messages were sarcastic attempts at anti-racism. “We at Newsmax never countenance the posting of racist views or views that appeal to racists,” Newsmax said in a statement. “We are currently reviewing the matter.”
Now the TRUTH: being a MARINE had nothing to do with RACE. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t “a thing”—the EXPERIENCE brought us together, no matter what we were. The late Mayor David Dinkens, a WWII Marine, and hence, my brother. Below in 1991, and officiating my wedding in 2017 pic.twitter.com/i0aNr12yNX
— Greg Kelly (@gregkellyusa) June 13, 2021
In another layer of his I-am-not-racist sandwich, Kelly reminisced about Paul McCartney and Stevie Wonder’s hit “Ebony and Ivory” on Newsmax Friday. He praised the lyrics of “living in perfect harmony,” but griped: “Right now white people are at the bottom of the heap for all the terrible things they’ve done over the years.”
Kelly, a Donald Trump loyalist who’s made news for his capitol riot revisionism and McDonald’s outrage, got lambasted for his tweets.
Unacceptable garbage, thinly veiled racism from a man who shows the epitome of someone who thinks he deserves the "privlege" to be sarcastic about it.
— Elle D. Wetherbee@TossOutTheGrift (@ElleDR2) June 14, 2021
Landing an aircraft on a ship is incredibly difficult.
But apparently not as difficult as successfully pulling off "racism as sarcasm" on Twitter.— Rick H. (@hydecablecar) June 14, 2021
Just adding more evidence to the mountain that conservatives can't funny.
— Bruce Tennant (@BruceTennant) June 14, 2021
This shit is inadvertent parody of the highest quality.
— AAL🇺🇸🦁 (@anamericanlion) June 14, 2021
Sarcasm requires intelligence and wit. Greg Kelly is completely deficient in both. He thinks he can joke about racism, but he’s not smart enough to do much more than highlight exactly how racist he really is.
When you’re so racist that Newsmax has to ‘review the matter’, yikes!— Arolpin (@JKristal5) June 14, 2021
In short,
“But I have black friends” pic.twitter.com/QeAKEO6EtX— Kal Fox (@bindi34) June 14, 2021
Related...
Trump Supporters Who Did These Things 'Don't Do These Things': Newsmax
Newsmax Host Greg Kelly Was Trending As A 'Male Karen,' And Twitter Was Lovin' It
Newsmax Anchor Greg Kelly's Weird Weed Anecdote Gets Burned On Twitter
This article originally appeared on HuffPost and has been updated.