Don Yelton, ‘Racist’ Daily Show Interviewee, Doesn’t Regret A Thing
Don Yelton, the former Republican precinct chairman in North Carolina who was pressured to resign after a shockingly “racist” interview with The Daily Show‘s Aasif Mandvi, doesn’t regret a thing.
Yelton spoke to Mandvi earlier this week about voter-ID laws, and said that he wouldn’t mind of the law punished “lazy blacks that wants the government to give them everything.” He also hates that white people aren’t supposed to use the “n-word,” has a photo of President Obama dressed as a witch doctor that he says makes fun of his “white half,” and admitted that the voter-ID law’s purpose it basically to kick “Democrat butt.”
Also, he’s not racist, but he has “been called a bigot before.”
Buncombe County Republicans wasted no time pressuring Yelton to resign, with GOP chairman Henry Mitchell calling his comments “offensive, uninformed and unacceptable of any member within the Republican Party.”
In a press release, Mitchell said that any racism within the Republican party should be pulled out at the root.
“Let me make it very clear, Mr. Yelton’s comments do not reflect the belief or feelings of Buncombe Republicans, nor do they mirror any core principle that our party is founded upon. This mentality will not be supported or propagated within our party.”
Yelton, after his resignation, told the Asheville Citzen-Times that the Daily Show interview that was aired was condensed from a two-hour discussion between himself and Mandvi, and that it was manipulatively edited.
“I knew going in what was going to happen, and nothing happened that I was surprised at,” said Yelton. “If you and I disagree and we never communicate, are we ever going to accomplish anything?”
Still, it’s hard to find an appropriate context for wishing “lazy blacks that wants the government to give them everything” to be harmed by actual legal policy. Quotes like that, Yelton doesn’t seem to regret.
“There’s nothing I said that I would take back. So be it,” he said.
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