“Well, at least they have rhythm,” the former White House press secretary said of footage showing a crowd led by Black demonstrators in New York City.
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Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany mocked a crowd led by Black protesters demanding justice for Jordan Neely, a Black homeless man killed Monday in New York City by a white subway passenger who has yet to face charges.
While reporting on the investigation into Neely’s killing on Friday, McEnany said, “Some people have already made up their minds: angry protesters. They took to the streets last night, demanding justice, or else.”
“Well, at least they have rhythm,” she said dismissively after playing footage of the demonstration.
The Thursday night protest appeared to include people of different races, but the protesters in the foreground of the footage were Black. One of them is seen leading the crowd with a megaphone in a call-and-response chant demanding justice for the 30-year-old Neely. McEnany thus appeared to make a stereotypical crack about Black people having rhythm.
On Monday, a man multiple news outlets have now identified as Daniel Penny put Neely in a chokehold for nearly three minutes on a northbound F train after Neely had been yelling and behaving erratically, according to witnesses. A bystander video showed Neely struggling on the floor of the subway as Penny and other passengers restrained him. He later died.
Neely’s killing spurred outrage on social media, but others sought to downplay his death because he was making other people on the subway “uncomfortable.”
Even Twitter owner Elon Musk appeared to like tweets implying Neely deserved to die.
McEnany previously supported debunked “birther” claims about former President Barack Obama and defended former President Donald Trump’s claim that there were “very fine people, on both sides” at 2017’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.
She joined Fox News as a contributor in March 2021 after reportedly feeling “shock” that the Jan. 6, 2021, Capitol riot wasn’t “peaceful” — despite falsely claiming as White House press secretary that the 2020 presidential election was stolen.
Her quip about the protesters on Friday has already prompted an onslaught of social media backlash.
Is Fox News incapable of leaving racism out of their content? Fuck off @FoxNews
— ΞLLΛRS (@Ellars) May 5, 2023
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Having a Mental Break Down, Begging for Food, making a disturbance is not calls to be put in a chokehold for more than 3mins until death. The 24 year old Veteran MARINE acted Irresponsibly, he was supposed to have shown Restraint, there needs be Justice and a display of Humanity!
— Riccardo Holyfield (@1rholyfield) May 5, 2023
