Former Trump adviser calls out 'double standard' in defense of Bill O'Reilly's racist and sexist comments

Former Trump adviser defends Bill OReilly
(Image credit: Screenshot/YouTube)

In response to the outrage surrounding Bill O'Reilly's racist and sexist joke Tuesday — in which the Fox News host referred to Rep. Maxine Waters' (D-Calif.) hair as a "James Brown wig" — former Trump campaign adviser and congressman Jack Kingston took to CNN on Wednesday morning to defend O'Reilly. While speaking to host Chris Cuomo, Kingston claimed Washington politicians have "earned" the right to "humor and silliness."

"People make fun of Donald Trump all the time. They call him 'carrot top.' They say his whole skin is orange. They accuse him of all kinds of things," Kingston said to Cuomo during a debate with Jennifer Psaki, a former spokesman for former President Barack Obama. "It seems to me there is a double standard when somebody from the right is being criticized."

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Sarah Weldon

Sarah is a web intern at The Week and currently finishing up her studies in journalism and literature at Sarah Lawrence College. Her writing has appeared in NYLON and The Village Voice, among others. You can check out every meme she retweets @sarahfweldon.