CNN's Chris Cuomo shuts down Kanye West's musings about slavery: 'My 8-year-old knows slavery wasn't a choice'

Chris Cuomo.
(Image credit: Screenshot/Twitter/New Day/CNN)

Kanye West appeared on TMZ Live on Tuesday, where he discussed his opioid addiction, declared "TMZ is the hospital to fix the world," and mused that slavery seemed to him like it was a "choice." The stunned hosts of CNN's New Day reacted Wednesday morning, with Chris Cuomo noting that even his 8-year-old knows better. "My 8-year-old knows that slavery wasn't a choice," he said. "And by the way, she doesn't have to live with the culture and the stigma and the pain that African-Americans do."

Alisyn Camerota compared West's remarks to those made by President Trump, adding that the rapper's comment about slavery did not show "intellectual rigor."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE
https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up
Explore More
Jeva Lange

Jeva Lange was the executive editor at TheWeek.com. She formerly served as The Week's deputy editor and culture critic. She is also a contributor to Screen Slate, and her writing has appeared in The New York Daily News, The Awl, Vice, and Gothamist, among other publications. Jeva lives in New York City. Follow her on Twitter.