Laura Ingraham Chuckles And Cracks Jokes While Covering Nipsey Hussle Funeral
Fox News host Laura Ingraham’s coverage of Nipsey Hussle’s funeral included laughter and joking, as well as her taking particular exception to the deceased rapper’s contribution to an anti-Trump rap from another artist.
As HuffPost reports, the California rapper (real name Ermias Joseph Asghedom) who was murdered by an associate last week at the age of 33, was laid to rest in L.A. this weekend. The public funeral attracted thousands of fans and mourners. Ingraham, however, saw it as an occasion to crack a couple of jokes at the rapper’s expense.
An Anti-Trump Song
Ingraham was particularly galled about Hussle’s participation in a song by another rapper, in which Hussle and his collaborator took aim at Donald Trump.
Hussle was a “featured performer” on rapper YG’s early 2016 song “FDT,” or “F**k Donald Trump.” The L.A. Times described it at the time as “the most prophetic, wrathful and unifying protest song of 2016.”
I like white folks, but I don’t like you
All the n****s in the hood wanna fight you
Surprised the Nation of Islam ain’t tried to find you
Ingraham asked, sarcastically, if the song was written in response to Donald Trump’s policies having purportedly led to the lowest black unemployment rates in history. What Ingraham failed to take into account was that the song was written months before Trump had even announced his candidacy, let alone become president. What’s more, the sharpest drops in black unemployment came during the Obama administration, and while the number did reach its nadir during the Trump administration, it has since grown.
Mistaking Names
Ingraham and her guest, contributor Raymond Arroyo, also had a laugh at a bit of confusion over Hussle’s stage name, although the two of them appeared to be confused about it themselves.
During the funeral, Hussle was eulogized by Nation of Islam leader Louis Farrakhan, who at one point, accidentally referred to Asghedom as Nipsey Russell.
“It’s always a good idea before you give a eulogy to know the name of the deceased,” Arroyo joked with Ingraham.
The two then laughed and played old clips of black comedian Nipsey Russell performing his act.
Whether or not the two hosts were aware of it at the time or not remains unclear, but Nipsey Hussle had always been clear that his name was an homage to the African-American comedian. And while Farrakhan did indeed make a mistake in saying his name, Farrakhan did not equate Hussle with some random comedian, as Ingraham and her co-host seemed to suggest.
