Comedian Dave Chappelle reportedly called Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump “the most gangsta candidate ever” and said he admired how the GOP nominee withstood attacks during the campaign and regretted voting for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
Chappelle made the remarks at a New York comedy club called the Cutting Room Friday. The comments were reported by the New York Observer. Trump is the father-in-law of Observer publisher Jared Kushner.
It was not clear in what context Chappelle, a comedian known for his often-edgy, satirical style, made the remarks. The Observer story did not include audio or video of the comedian’s set.
It described Chappelle as devoting most of his hour-long set to slamming Clinton, saying the Democrat was “not right” even though he had voted for her. He reportedly claimed that Clinton was behind the leaking of a recorded conservsation between Trump and TV host Billy Bush. Trump was wildy criticized for his comments about women in the tape.
“What I heard on that tape was gross. But the way I got to hear it was even more gross. You know that came directly from Hillary,” the Observer quoted Chappelle as saying. He defended Trump from criticism that what the GOP candidate described himself in the tape doing to a woman constituted assault.
“Sexual assault? It wasn’t. He said, ‘And when you’re a star, they let you do it.’ That phrase implies consent. I just don’t like the way the media twisted that whole thing. Nobody questioned it,” Chappelle was quoted as saying.
He also reportedly said he admired Trump for weathering the subsequent controversy, stating, “That would have devastated anybody else.”
Referring the president debate hosted by CNN’s Anderson Cooper and Martha Raddatz, Chappelle said: “Something about this was backward. A gay white man and a white woman asking a multi-billionaire how he knows the system is rigged and insisting it’s not. Does that sound right to you? It didn’t seem right to me. And here’s how you know Trump is the most gangsta candidate ever. They asked him how he knows the system is rigged and he said, ‘Because I take advantage of it.’ He may as well have flashed his membership card for the Illuminati right then.”
The comedian was reportedly upset about women and trangender activists comparing themselves to black civil rights activists: “They should not be having that conversation in front of black people. You go ahead and feel something about your rights. But if you’re putting sexism and homophobia and transphobia in front of racism, you should be ashamed of yourself.”
He did, however criticize North Carolina for the controversy there over whether transgender people could use the bathroom they preferred to use. “If you need to show your birth certificate to take a dump at a Wal-Mart in North Carolina, that’s insane,” he said.
Chappelle has a history of seemingly-erratic behavior. He famously abandoning his acclaimed cable TV sketch show after two seasons despite lucrative offers to continue it because he thought some of the humor sent the wrong message regarding racial issues.
