It seems like ages ago when news pundits were attempting to urge voters to choose the first female president in the history of the United States, and the shock of the Trump victory is still souring the attitudes of many people who assumed Clinton would come out on top. Samantha Bee is one such pundit, and she is well-known for her blunt and hilarious monologues directed toward the American people. Her show, Full Frontal, has been the center of a lot of controversy regarding her statements, but her most recent episode has some wondering if she isn’t completely right in her claims.
Bee tore into the country for electing Donald Trump over Hillary Clinton. She referred to Trump as a ‘vial of weaponized testosterone’, and quickly admonished every group that actively sought to elect the man who has promoted sexual assault and discrimination against minorities. She saw white people as the problem, citing the record-setting number of whites who voted in this election. If anyone is to take responsibility for the vileness of Trump’s character, it should be the white people who elected him, according to Bee.
Bee discussed that idea that while white people did vote overwhelming for Trump, clearly not every white person in America was on his side. How could she, as a white woman herself, criticize her own race for such action? Her reasoning is simple enough. She argues that if Trump can lump all 3.3 million peaceful Muslims living in America into a single category based on the radical actions of a few, then white people should be willing to operate under the same process. The actions of a few must reflect that actions of the many, but only if that is true through every race. To apply such a stigma to Muslims, but ignore it for whites or any other racial or religious minority, would be a blatant double standard.
The message didn’t end their, either. Bee was already fired up simply discussing the election results, but her words for the women of the white race rang out with much more clarity. She correctly stated that about 53 percent of white women voted for Trump, a number she found both reprehensible and shocking. Not only was there an option to elect the first female president in US history, but it would have been a simultaneous blow to the established patriarchy, and a declaration that Trump’s behavior and rhetoric isn’t tolerated in civilized society.
Instead, Bee sees the women of the Republican party as traitors to their own kind, and she isn’t far off the mark. If just a small portion of those women hadn’t been swayed by Trump’s racist and homophobic words, he might not be the president-elect at this moment. Bee went on to declare a call to action for women everywhere, stating that white women have a lot of karma to work off in light of the election.
While not everyone agrees with Samantha Bee, she has made many points that can’t be overlooked. Trump was very clearly not the candidate for women and minorities, yet a large number of them voted for Trump simply because they ‘like his attitude’. These supporters of Trump were likely the same people who criticized Clinton supporters for their lack of knowledge regarding the candidate, despite the opposite being true.
As the nation continues to reel over the election results, those who wanted a Clinton presidency have pledged to fight against Trump and any racist, homophobic, misogynist, or otherwise discriminatory legislation he might attempt to enact. Samantha Bee and her fans are sure to be at the core of that effort.