Charlamagne tha God was catching heat from the right and left Tuesday after clearly contradicting himself regarding Donald Trump‘s autocratic tendencies.
The popular talk show host, who endorsed Kamala Harris while criticizing other celebrities for feeling the need to endorse, asked his “Breakfast Club” co-hosts if they had noticed a change in how people were reacting to Trump.
“Don’t ya’ll find it strange that now that he’s won they’re not calling him a threat to democracy, they’re not calling him a fascist,” he said. “I mean, damn, on Monday they was calling him that. I would think that if you really believed that then somebody’s speech would be about how America effed up and about how things are about to be really bad … It just makes you wonder how much of it did they really believe and how much of it was just politics.”
Charlamagne appeared to forget he was one of those pundits calling the once and future president “the f-Word.” The video, posted on X by End Wokeness, noted a big difference between what the syndicated talker was saying now and what he said before the election:
“Charlamagne (a month ago): Trump is a fascist and will destroy democracy. Charlamagne (today): We lied.”
In a contentious interview last month with CNN’s Anderson Cooper, Charlamagne said Democratic nominee Harris should double down on her criticism of the GOP standard-bearer.
“I think she should keep calling him a fascist,” he said. “Americans need to keep looking at the rhetoric of Donald Trump. … I don’t know why we’re having this conversation about somebody who wants to terminate the Constitution.”
One could wonder, then, if Charlamagne really believes Trump is a fascist or if he was just reciting Democratic talking points to help his preferred candidate.
“It’s a lack of self-awareness because HE was the one talking that way. So he shouldn’t be talking about what ‘they’ aren’t saying. He should have talked about what *he* is not saying,” conservative writer Delano Squires remarked.
Democrat strategist Ameshia Cross noted that Charlamagne was trying to have it both ways. “Grifting comes in all forms.”
Deemed by some as “The Voice of Black America,” Charlamagne has become a go-to source for the white political establishment and was a ubiquitous presence on legacy media throughout the 2024 campaign.
As his profile rose, his opinions sharpened. While he once eschewed taking sides politically, Charlamagne came out strongly for Harris, citing the threat to democracy posed by Trump.
Now, he seems to be striking a more conciliatory tone towards the president-elect, who made big gains with young Black male voters. “The Breakfast Club” averages about 8 million listeners a month, 70 percent of whom are Black, most under 45 years old, according to Nielsen.
“I get the point, but isn’t he kinda admitting he was hoodwinked?” wrote one of the few sympathetic commenters. “I mean…doesn’t want to admit as much but really is saying that in his own way.”
