Rush Limbaugh, a controversial radio host, is now questioning the blackness of Sen. Kamala Harris and former President Barack Obama.
Limbaugh made the recent comments on his Rush Limbaugh Show Monday.
In a clip Media Matters for America obtained, he can be heard saying:
“And by the way, can somebody explain to me how Kamala Harris is an African-American. Her father is Jamaican, and her mother is Indian. How does that equal African-American?”
Harris’ ethnicity has long been popular fodder for her critics.
But when asked in media interviews, she has focused less on her ethnic background and more on the Trump administration’s focus on her background.
“They are trying to do what has been happening over the last two years, which is powerful voices trying to sow hate and division among us, and so we need to recognize when we’re being played,” Harris said in a March interview with “The Breakfast Club” hosts DJ Envy and Charlamagne Tha God.
Limbaugh didn’t limit his comments to Harris in his recent show. He similarly questioned the ethnicity of Barack Obama and Rashida Tlaib, who’s been under a media spotlight since President Donald Trump told her and three other congresswomen of color to “go back” to the “crime-infested” countries they came from.
“Obama’s not African-American,” Limbaugh said. “He doesn’t have any history here, and Rashida Tlaib is Palestinian, for crying out loud. That’d be like calling a Jewish person a person of color. How is Rashida Tlaib a person of color? She’s not.”
“This is all about making them victims,” Limbaugh added in the clip.
He then used a squeaky, mocking voice to say: “It’s all about making them appear to be just little people trying to save themselves and save their country and this big man bully, this guy Trump comes along and squashes them and steps on them, and it’s all because he doesn’t like. … It’s absurd.”
*Editor’s note: Don Imus’ quote referring to athletes of a Rutgers University women’s basketball team as “nappy-headed h–” was originally attributed to Rush Limbaugh. A correction has been made.
