Charles Blow Hilariously Claps Back at Actor Spouting Gibberish About Clint Eastwood’s Racism

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWC1lM-QA7w

On Thursday’s edition of “CNN Tonight with Don Lemon,” New York Times columnist Charles M. Blow and character actor Graham Beckel get into a heated and absurd exchange over director Clint Eastwood’s comments about race in Esquire Magazine.

In the interview released this week, Eastwood said:

“… We see people accusing people of being racist and all kinds of stuff. When I grew up, those things weren’t called racist … [Trump’s] said a lot of dumb things. So have all of them. Both sides. But everybody—the press and everybody’s going, ‘Oh, well, that’s racist,’ and they’re making a big hoodoo out of it. Just f—king get over it.”

In the clip, Blow attacks Eastwood for his lack of understanding and dismissal of victims of racism in the country.

“I’m blown away by all the euphemisms we’re using right now,” Blow explains. “In the interview he says some of the things that I used to say and some of the things Trump is saying, that people say are not racist, we didn’t used to call it racist. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t.”

The columnist adds that Eastwood’s stance on political correctness is a blanket statement for bigoted comments.

“And this idea that he says later that people should just get over it. It is fascinating to me and in fact supremely insulting when people who were never subjects of the bitterness and pain and subjugation of racism to tell people who were that you should just get over it. And to cast that — political correctness has become this blanket that people throw over everything they want to say, or want to do.”

Then Beckel goes on a rant calling Eastwood “the masculine ideal.”

“Everyone in Hollywood kisses a–, except for people with a tremendous amount of integrity, he being one of them,” the actor states in support of Eastwood’s comments.

“I don’t get what the racist thing is,” Beckel exclaims. “… The post-colonial victim s–t.”

Then the actor asks Blow about Black troops serving under George Washington at Valley Forge.

Independent journalism doesn't fund itself.

We hope this story was worth your time. For over 14 years, Atlanta Black Star has stayed Black-owned and independently run. We didn't get here by waiting on ad budgets that were never built to prioritize us. Our readers did that.

Corporate support for Black media has always been thin. Outlets like ours get roughly 1% of the $170 billion spent on U.S. advertising each year, and that margin is shrinking further as advertisers walk back the DEI-linked commitments they made in 2020. That's the backdrop. It's not why we're asking.

We know a request for support isn't why you came here. But without readers choosing to fund this work directly, the depth of reporting we can do at home and abroad shrinks along with everyone else's. If you're not in a position to give, that doesn't change how much we value you as a reader.

If you are able to, a recurring contribution does more for us than a single one-time gift, because it lets us plan the next investigation instead of just the next invoice. It takes about 30 seconds, no long form, no account. Thank you for continuing to support independent journalism and freedom of the press.

Back to top