White House Press Secretary Karine Jean-Pierre was the victim of racist remarks from a Tennessee right-wing radio host.
During an episode of the WKOM 101.7 FM radio show 3 Dudes with a View, host and station owner Delk Kennedy referred to Jean-Pierre as “Buckwheat,” the Advocate reports.
Kennedy and his co-hosts, Jim York and Clayton Harris, were discussing Tennessee’s gender-affirming care ban and spouting falsehoods about the healthcare for trans youth when Kennedy suddenly brought Jean-Pierre and President Biden into the discussion.
“President Biden has come—both he and Buckwheat Jean-Pierre have come out and in favor of a national law, allowing minors without the consent of their parents to have gender-changing procedures,” Kennedy said.
“And in some cases, states have enacted laws—California, places like that—where if a child wants gender-changing surgery and the parents won’t consent, the child can be removed from the home as abused and neglected, placed in foster care, and be given the gender changing procedures.”
tom-banner ampforwp-incontent-ad2">Buckwheat was a Black child character in the Little Rascals or Our Gang series, which was popular in the 1930s and widely used as a racial stereotype.
Kennedy used the racist reference again toward Jean-Pierre while talking about Ukraine relations. “What’s interesting
to me is that Jen Psaki, the former White House Press Secretary, she had Jean-Pierre Buckwheat’s job before she came out just a year or two ago, saying that cluster bombs were a war crime,” he said.After receiving complaints about his remarks toward the first Black person and the first openly LGBTQ+ person to serve in the position, Kennedy jumped on the mic the next day to joke about it and followed up by saying the name was a compliment.
“There we go, Buckwheat, Buckwheat, Buckwheat,” Kennedy said, according to LGBTQ Nation, after another co-host joked that “you calling Jean-Pierre Buckwheat just really set these white folks off.”
“Buckwheat in Little Rascals is not some stereotypical old song of the South Darkie,” Kennedy added. “He is a very admirable, smart, capable person.”