The journalists at CBS This Morning on Wednesday could not find enough praise to heap on the “public intellectual” and one of the “best writers on race,” Ta-Nehisi Coates. The author blames, in part, white supremacy for the election of Donald Trump as a reaction to Barack Obama.
Gayle King casually set up Coates’ attack: “You never in your lifetime thought you'd never see a black president in office.... In 2016, many people thought Donald Trump could not be president. Yet, you believe the two are connected.”
Sliming the country, the author explained:
To some extent, we should expect this. You know? We have a long and regrettable history of racism and white supremacy. The expectation that with the election of a black man to the White House, that would somehow disappear, that we would no longer have to grapple with that, that some important percentage of the country wouldn't be grappling with it, is I think is a bit naive.
This led to a discussion of just what fawning praise Coates would accept from the liberal co-hosts at CBS:
GAYLE KING: Can I say this about you? You're being called one of America's best writers on race and then I heard you were gagging about that.
TA-NEHISI COATES: I'm gagging right now.
KING: Would you prefer to be called the black public intellectual?
COATES: No, no, no.
CHARLIE ROSE: What would you like?
COATES: I would like to be the best writer in America bar none. I have no problem being black and being a black writer. I take great pride in that. But I think when people say things like, “You’re the best writer on race," it’s to pretend I’m not in competition with any other writers.”
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: I think we can all agree you are on the path to being one of the best writers.
COATES: I’ll take that. I’ll take that.
Imagine such a fawning conversation taking place between a conservative author, say Ben Shapiro, and the hosts of CBS This Morning. Doesn’t seem possible, does it?
[The bias on CBS This Morning sponsored by Xfinity, Jiffy Lube and Mercedes.]
A transcript is below:
CBS This Morning
10/4/17
8:33am ETCHARLIE ROSE: Barack Obama officially became the first black president in January 2009 at his inauguration.
JOHN ROBERTS: So help you, God?
BARACK OBAMA: So help me, God.
ROBERTS: Congratulations, Mr. President.
ROSE: Afterward, The Atlantic’s Ta-Nehisi Coates’s rose to prominence, earning a reputation as one of the best writers on race. He won an award on his essay "Fear of a black president” and “The case for reparations.”
GAYLE KING: His 2015 book Between the World and Me explored what it means to be black American. It topped the New York times bestseller list and won Coates the National Book Award for non-fiction. He’s got a new book called We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy. It features essays analyzing the Obama presidency and the rise of President Trump. Ta-Nehisi Coates is a recipient of the prestigious MacArthur Fellowship. Welcome back to the table, Mr. Coates.
TA-NEHISI COATES: Thanks for having me back.KING: So, let's start with this. Because you never in your lifetime thought you'd never see a black president in office and you also say in 2008 many people thought Barack Obama could not be president. In 2016 many people thought Donald Trump could not be president. Yet, you believe the two are connected, the two presidencies are connected. How?
COATES: I’ll just say I belong to both camps, by the way. So, I should be out of the prediction business. I don't think Donald Trump's presidency is literally possible without the response, I should day, to Barack Obama. Not so much Barck Obama himself. I don’t mean that in a particularly symbolic way. His political career actually begins in birtherism. Regrettably, birtherism had a high degree of purchase in the opposition party, in Barack Obama’s opposition party during his presidency. Upwards of, you know, majorities, pluralities, how ever you want to have it, want to believe he as not a legitimate president. I think Donald Trump had the wisdom, if you want to call it that, to see that was not some fringe movement, that it actually could be the basis of launching a successful political career, which he did.
ROSE: So, you think in part the vote for Donald Trump was in part, if not a significant part, a vote against Barack Obama?
COATES: Yeah. I would think it was kind of revanchist. And I would emphasize in part, an important part, but in part. I think it was a kind of Revanchism against this idea, this symbolism of having a black man lead the country. And to some extent, we should expect this. You know? We have a long and regrettable history of racism and white supremacy. The expectation that with the election of a black man to the White House, that would somehow disappear, that we would no longer have to grapple with that, that some important percentage of the country wouldn’t be grappling with it is I think is a bit naive.
ROSE: The subtitle of your book is called “An American tragedy." The tragedy is that it served as a lever to introduce and allow Donald Trump to succeed.
COATES: Yeah. Not just succeed. But I mean, had Donald Trump come in and —
ROSE: Succeed to the presidency.
COATES: Yes, yes, yes. Yes, but had he come to the presidency and as people said shifted and become presidential, maybe the subtitle would be a little different. But instead, you cut on your TV and you see a president going to a region of the country that's been hit by a natural disaster and he's lofting paper towels into the audience. You see a president conducting policy via tweet. That’s a problem.
ROSE: As soon as you say that, Ta-Nehisi, at the same time you have General Mattis saying we should stay in the Iran deal, we have people saying we should stay in the Paris Accord. They have not been able to repeal ObamaCare yet. So a lot of things he stood for, fought for, that are hallmarks of success have been resistant so far.
COATES: Right.
ROSE: So, it’s not a tragedy.
COATES: That doesn't give me much comfort though. I don't think it's because -- I don't credit Trump with the fact that ObamaCare hasn't been repealed yet. I don't believe we're in the Paris Climate Accords anymore. I might have missed something, but I don't think we are. I know the Iran deal hasn’t been repealed yet, but I just don't take much confidence, I don't credit Trump for that.
ROSE: It's more cultural, too, isn't it?
COATES: That's part of it. That’s part of it.
BIANNA GOLODRYGA: One of the criticisms that President Trump is receiving now is he's not in the campaign trail mode anymore and yet he does in some people's opinion seem to cater to only his own voters and his group of supporters. President Obama was criticized by some by saying while he may have been President for everyone, he wasn't doing enough for the African-American community, so can you square the two? And looking back, do you think President Obama made some missteps with regards to the African-American community now seeing what President Trump's being accused of doing?
COATES: Yeah. I think black people in this country make up, I believe, 13, 14 percent of the population.
KING: 13 percent.
COATES: Yeah. Trump's base is a lot bigger, you know, so the number of people, the sheer number of voters, that he can consider his base and get away with appealing is a lot larger than Barack Obama's. I think that imposes, you know, some degree of power. Obama always had to find some way to somehow represent the community he came from and speak to a broader country at the same time. Now, there were people like me who were somewhat frustrated with some of those attempted and how that came out. But I was never unaware of what that meant and what that conflict meant and how special of a person, frankly, you had to be to walk both lines like that.
ROSE: This really is a homage to Barack Obama.
COATES: The book?
ROSE: Yeah.
COATES: I wouldn't say that. I wouldn’t go that far.
ROSE: You feel strongly about him.
COATES: I do! I do! I do!
KING: You also called him to task too.
COATES: That's why I say it wasn't a homage. I certainly credit him for certain things. I think he was an extraordinary individual. I was not always a fan of how he addressed African Americans and how he talked to the community.
KING: Can I say this about you? You're being called one of America's best writers on race and then I heard you were gagging about that.
COATES: I'm gagging right now.
KING: Would you prefer to be called the black public intellectual?
COATES: No, no, no.
ROSE: What would you like?
COATES: I would like to be the best writer in America bar none. I have no problem being black and being a black writer. I take great pride in that. But I think when people say things like, “You’re the best writer on race, it’s to pretend I’m not in competition with any other writers.”
GOLODRYGA: I think we can all agree you are on the path to being one of the best writers.
COATES: I’ll take that. I’ll take that.
