Ben Shapiro, the Editor Emeritus at the Daily Wire, criticized the media on Wednesday, accusing them of attempting to unjustly bring about another round of public censure against comedian Roseanne Barr over comments she made on Theo Von’s podcast.
He claimed that the comments, which referenced the Holocaust, were sarcastic and part of a more significant point about Barr’s belief that the 2020 election was manipulated.
On the podcast, Barr used sarcasm to assert her claim that the 2020 election was rigged, leading to an unfair victory for President Joe Biden over ex-President Donald Trump.
Barr followed up her remarks, which indicated the election was free from corruption, with a sarcastic statement about the Holocaust.
Emphasizing that her comments should be taken in context, Shapiro pointed out on his podcast that Barr’s words were meant to be sarcastic.
He noted that the media seemed to capitalize on this opportunity to damage Barr’s career further.
He added that many comedians, including Dave Chappelle and Louis C.K., could be criticized similarly if their performances were misinterpreted outside their original context.
Shapiro argued that Barr was framing her statements so that she was pairing two things she did not believe to be true: that Biden won the election by garnering 81 million votes and that the Holocaust didn’t occur.
According to Shapiro, this manipulation of comments taken out of context is something he frequently experiences from the media and the Left, with attempts often made to present his comedic comments as serious remarks.
He differentiated between the intention to create humor and the attempt to damage someone’s reputation or career, expressing disapproval of the latter as it pertains to Barr.
On May 29, 2018, Barr posted a response in a Twitter thread about Valerie Jarrett, a former senior advisor to ex-President Obama.
Her tweet stated, “Muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj.”. This tweet drew widespread condemnation as it was perceived to contain racially derogatory remarks about Jarrett, indicated by “vj.”
