Andrew Nelles / Gage Skidmore
emanuel and harris
Rahm Emanuel (left) and Kamala Harris have both drawn controversy over their use of, or response towards, disability slurs. Both have also managed to emerge with their political careers relatively unscathed.
Kamala Harris stepped on a potential hornet’s nest on the campaign trail when she used the taboo “r” word. Actually, she didn’t say it herself, but someone else said it when addressing her and she failed to call them out.
At a campaign stop in New Hampshire, someone stood and said, referring to the squatter currently occupying the White House, “What are you going to do in the next one year to diminish the mentally retarded behavior of this guy?”
The zinger drew laughter and applause from the audience. Harris also laughed and twice said, “Well said.”
Harris later tweeted, “I didn’t hear the words the man used in that moment, but if I had I would’ve stopped and corrected him. I’m sorry. That word and others like it aren’t acceptable. Ever.”
Of course right wing news sites like Breitbart and the Daily Caller jumped all over the story. An entry on NewsBusters, a site dedicated to “exposing and combating liberal media bias,” griped about how the lack of coverage of the gaffe is yet another illustration of journalistic hypocrisy.
I don’t know about the lack of coverage part. Huffington Post, The New York Times, and CBS News all reported on it. They even talked about it on The View.
It’s true that it didn’t get the kind of continuous coverage that can sink a campaign or derail a career. The Harris campaign staggers on.
It’s true that it didn’t get the kind of continuous coverage that can sink a campaign or derail a career. But that’s nothing new.
But that’s nothing new. Remember back in 2010, when Rahm Emanuel was chief of staff for President Barack Obama? The Wall Street Journal reported (more here for those who can’t see over the paywall) that in a closed-door meeting Emanuel referred to some progressive Democrats as “fucking retarded.”
Sarah Palin got all indignant about this because her son, Trig, was born with Down Syndrome. In a Facebook post she wrote, “Rahm’s slur on all God’s children with cognitive and developmental disabilities—and the people who love them—is unacceptable, and it’s heartbreaking.” She said Emanuel should be fired.
Emanuel called the CEO of the Special Olympics to apologize, as if the Special Olympics represented everyone with Down Syndrome. He also had a meeting with disability community leaders, which Rush Limbaugh called a “retard summit.” Palin did not say Limbaugh should be fired.
Emanuel got beat up pretty bad in the press for a while there, but his political career survived just fine. And Limbaugh’s career didn’t miss a beat either.
And remember in 2016 when rapper 50 Cent posted a video mocking the behavior of a teen working as an airport custodian? When it was revealed the teen was on the autism spectrum, 50 Cent wrote a two-sentence apology to the teen and his family. He also donated $100,000 to the organization Autism Speaks, as if they represent all people with autism.
50 Cent also seems to have survived just fine. I mean, he can afford to donate $100,000.
So history shows that when a famous person insults disabled people in this manner, they can get off the hook with an apology. It also helps to make nice to some organization that appears to be authorized to accept that apology on behalf of all those harmed.
Next time this happens, and it will, I hope the stakes go up. I’d love to see people with Down Syndrome and autism show up at a campaign rally and heckle the hell out of the candidate. That would be fun to watch.