Episode 280 Scott Adams: Hillary’s “Joke” and my Awkward Meeting With Diamond and Silk
Date: 2018-10-30 | Duration: 14:31
Topics
Hillary made a joke about people that say what she said My awkward meeting with Diamond and Silk
Transcript
The Tears of Our Enemies and Win Bigly
Come on in here. It’s time for drinking water with Scott Adams, also known as the tears of our enemies. Get a big glass of the tears of your enemies and join me for the simultaneous sip.
My voice is kind of shot because I don’t usually talk so much during a day, but I’m promoting Win Bigly. If you didn’t know, the paperback version of Win Bigly dropped today, so pick it up. I’m not sick; I’ve just been talking too much. As a cartoonist, I don’t do that much talking.
Hillary Clinton’s “Joke”
Let’s talk about Hillary Clinton’s joke. I think most of you saw it, but let me just call it up here. Hillary was on video and she was being interviewed recently by Kara Swisher. There was some question in which Kara Swisher confused Cory Booker with Eric Holder. Kara Swisher was interviewing Hillary, and the person confused Cory Booker with Eric Holder in terms of what one of them said.
Hillary smiled and said—listen, I want to get the exact quote—she said, “Yeah, I know, they don’t look alike.” Clinton joked, triggering gales of laughter. Now, some people said, “Hey, that’s racist. You can’t say that African American people look the same and you can’t tell them apart.”
The Message and the Messenger
I’m in the awkward position of defending Hillary Clinton, and here’s how: you can’t separate the message from the messenger. For example, if you happen to be African American and use the N-word, you’re fine because the messenger and the message are compatible. If you were a white person and used the N-word in any context, even if you’re just talking about it, you’re probably in a lot of trouble because the messenger and the message are always connected.
The clip that we all saw of Hillary saying this thing that would normally be racist if it came from another person—the context is often edited out. The context just before this bad joke was Hillary talking about the need to be more diverse and how the Democrats have more diversity in their party. Basically, she was saying all the right things that would be compatible with someone who was a positive influence at least in terms of race.
I’m not reading her mind, I’m not talking about the past, and I’m not talking about anything she did 20 years ago. But at the moment, she’s the standard-bearer in a sense for the Democrat brand, and the Democrat brand is very pro-inclusivity and pro-diversity. That’s just a fact.
Within that context, Hillary told a joke that other people can’t tell. If a Trump supporter told that joke, they would be fired or kicked off social media. But it’s not because of what they would have said; it would be because the message and the messenger are out of sync. I’m going to give Hillary a pass. I know you hate that, but I try to be consistent. It was intended as a joke, and because her credentials—at least in the modern era—for being good with diversity are so strong, it came off as a joke.
In other words, to put it in clear terms, she was making a joke about people who say that. It’s very different. Saying it is different from joking about people who say it. I wouldn’t even ask for the 48-hour rule for a clarification because I think she’s in a unique situation where she can say that. Consider, for example, if a black person had said exactly the same thing. Suppose any African American was on the stage and Kara Swisher had confused Cory Booker and Eric Holder. If a black person was sitting in the chair and said, “Yeah, I know, it’s hard to tell them apart,” you wouldn’t take that as a racist comment because the person saying it is connected to the message. I’m going to say that Clinton has earned an inside position. She’s not African American, but she’s been good on that topic to the point where, when she makes a joke talking about people who say it as opposed to just saying it, she’s in a good situation.
Awkward Meeting with Diamond and Silk
Remember that story, and let me tell you my awkward encounter this morning with Diamond and Silk. I was on Fox & Friends this morning, and I walked into the green room. I saw Diamond and Silk there, and Candace Owens was there. I saw some of the hosts, Ed Henry, etc. It’s a fun atmosphere because you see all these people you see on TV.
At one point, Diamond and Silk, who had been on Fox & Friends earlier, came back into the green room. Diamond sat at my table. The green room is just a bunch of little tables and some couches. I was at a table by myself, and there were a few chairs there. Diamond came and sat down, just using an available chair. I thought, “I love Diamond and Silk, I’m going to introduce myself.”
I introduced myself to Diamond. I extended my hand and said, “I am Scott Adams, and I’m a big fan.” She shook my hand and was polite. But as soon as I shook her hand and introduced myself to Diamond, Silk walks up to the table right next to me. I thought, “I better introduce myself to Silk because I just introduced myself to Diamond.”
The Handshake Mistake
You have to get this physically to understand it. I’m sitting at the table and Silk walks up, but she’s here, so I’m not looking at her face. I just know that this is Diamond, and obviously, this is Silk because I can see her out of the corner of my eye. I stood up and went, “Hi, I’m Scott Adams, I’m a big fan.”
Silk looks at me and says, “I’m not Silk.”
It was one of Diamond and Silk’s friends who was just with them. Now imagine how awkward that is. I just said that I’m a fan, which I am. I love Diamond and Silk; they’re terrific. I love what they’re doing with their career and I love their act. But because of the proximity, I just assumed. Here is Diamond, and the person walking up to her and talking to her—who out of the corner of my eye is a woman of roughly the same demographic—I’m thinking is Silk. I better introduce myself.
Now I’ve introduced myself to the wrong Silk, and I did it right in front of Diamond. I was thinking to myself, “What is the good way to get out of this situation?” There’s no good way. I just said, “Well, I’ll be your fan too,” and I just sat down. Now I’m sitting across from Diamond in literally the most awkward situation you could ever be in.
I’m not like most people in lots of ways, I suppose, but one of the ways is that I find embarrassment hilarious, even if it’s my own. Even if I’m embarrassed, I can’t stop laughing at it because it’s so funny. I had to pretend I was looking at something funny on my phone because I didn’t want to just get up and leave the table, and I felt like it would be awkward to continue the conversation. I just looked at my phone and pretended I was laughing at something on my phone because there’s just no place to go with that. Anyway, I’m still laughing at it; it’s pretty funny.
The problem, of course, is the assumption that I can’t tell the difference. But the real problem was I wasn’t looking at her when I extended my hand. I literally turned and extended my hand and introduced myself before I’d even really looked at her face because when you shake hands, you’re sort of looking at the hand to make sure you’re getting a good grip on the handshake. But I’ll tell you, if you were observing it, there’s no way in the world that you would have a positive opinion of me, which is what makes it so funny.
My apologies to Silk. And then, of course, the real Silk is there and I’m like, “Oh god, I can’t introduce myself. That was just too awkward.” So I didn’t. I did get to meet Candace Owens later, and I’m one of her biggest fans. That was a big treat for me.
Reddit AMA and the Charlottesville Hoax
I’m going to be on a Reddit AMA at 3:00 p.m. Eastern Time, which is in about half an hour. If you have questions you want to ask, go over there. I tweeted the link so you can see that in my Twitter feed.
What was Diamond’s reaction? She didn’t really react to it, which I think made it more awkward for me. I don’t know what she was thinking or feeling, but she was also busy doing something on her phone. I’m not sure it registered necessarily. Somebody said I sound like every rich guy they’ve ever met. You’re not wrong.
How many of you saw me on Fox & Friends? I got to use my point about the Charlottesville hoax—that it was really about both sides of the statue question and not both sides of Antifa versus the racists when the President said there were fine people on both sides. I don’t know if anybody has said that on a national news program before. Have you ever heard that? I think I might be the first one to say that.
Anyway, I have to get ready for my AMA and answer some questions. I’ll talk to you later. Sorry it’s a short one today.