Herman Cain Says He's Not Offended By Jon Stewart, Except When He Is
Herman Cain seems to be of several minds on the matter of Jon Stewart telling jokes about him on "The Daily Show," a show which habitually makes fun of people in politics and the media.
He tells Fox's Juan Williams, "I'm not playing the race card," for instance, but then he says, "Jon Stewart does not like me, in my opinion, because I am an American black conservative. Because I'm black and conservative, I think he probably has a bigger problem with that than he does the whole race thing." Hey, maybe! But I've been watching this Jon Stewart for a long while now, and have noted the fact that he directs comedy at many white conservatives, and also a certain prominent black liberal named Barack Obama.
But Cain can take a joke, he says, except for the ways in which he can't:
"First of all, Jon Stewart is a comedian, I understand that ... but when he mocked me in the dialog of the old Amos 'n Andy. ... I think that was a bit much but you know, he's a comedian. I'm running for office, I'm a problem solver."
I'm pretty sure that bringing up "Amos and Andy" wouldn't have occurred to Cain if Fox News Sunday's Chris Wallace hadn't cited it in the first place. And also, have any of the people in this conversation even heard the "Amos and Andy" show? I'm guessing probably not.
WATCH:
Wondering why Cain is so semi-bent out of shape over an episode of "The Daily Show" that aired many weeks ago? Well, it's probably strategic. To really have authentic Tea Party-cred, it helps to have some sort of victim-story to tell about a grievance you have with some figure in the media. Most political reporters seem to be besotted with Cain and his meteoric rise -- it helps them with their overall "people don't like the established GOP candidates" narrative. Jon Stewart made sport of Cain, however, on the teevee, so that's what he's going with for the time being.
Let's recall, of course, that the reason Cain drew Stewart's attention was because he told people that as president, he'd only sign bills that were three pages or less. He's since walked that back -- after it was pointed out everywhere that he wouldn't be able to sign a single appropriations bill, let alone his beloved "Fair Tax" legislation -- and he's done so in a way that makes it sound like the media is stupid for believing him when he said he'd do the three-page thing in the first place, because he was obviously kidding.
Cain should, at some point, tell the audience attending his lecture at the Family Leader Presidential Lecture Series in Pella, Iowa, that they were wrong to conclude he was sincere when he said that. I'm sure he'll get to it! After all, a lawmaker not reading bills is sort of like the manager of a pizza delivery chain not delivering pizzas. (I bet Herman Cain would make fun of a pizza store manager like that!)
At any rate, Herman Cain is in no way offended by Jon Stewart, he just wants to make sure his supporters are offended on his behalf.
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First Posted: 06/28/11 12:23 PM ET Updated: 08/28/11 06:12 AM ET