Watch This Guy's Ridiculously Racist Defense of Voter ID Laws
LatestThe Daily Show with Jon Stewart could not have written a better script if they’d wanted to.
A North Carolina Republican precinct captain who defended the state’s controversial voter ID law during an interview with the show’s Aasif Mandvi spewed an incredibly insensitive stream of comedic gold.
Don Yelton’s remarks started off like most interviews. He said the new law, which requires people to show certain identification at the polls, would bring “more integrity” to elections. That’s standard refrain for supporters of voter ID laws.
But things got interesting when Mandvi pointed out, “So statistically there’s enough voter fraud to sway zero elections.”
“That’s not the point!” Yelton shot back. “The law is not racist.”
And then he said what few Republicans have admitted so bluntly.
“The law is gonna kick the Democrats in the butt.”
Mandvi looked delighted throughout the interview as Yelton proceeded, unprompted to make some very interesting comments.
“One of my best friends is black.”
Okay, then.
“If [the new law] hurts a bunch of college kids who’s too lazy to get up off their bohunkus and go get a photo ID, so be it.”
At one point, he mentioned that he’d posted a picture of President Obama as a witch doctor on Facebook. But he was making fun of the “white half” of Obama, not the black half, he assured Mandvi.
“You know that we can hear you, right?!” the incredulous interviewer asked at one point.
It will surprise no one that Yelton has since resigned. We don’t have to tell you that the video itself is worth a watch. Enjoy! Or be horrified. It’s a fine line.
Emily DeRuy is a Washington, D.C.-based associate editor, covering education, reproductive rights, and inequality. A San Francisco native, she enjoys Giants baseball and misses Philz terribly.