Samantha Bee, the host of “Full Frontal” on TBS, is among the most talented comics gracing your cable screen. Check the highlights from her career on that show and her memorable moments on Comedy Central’s “Daily Show,” and you’ll see a versatile talent capable of deploying irony, mock-interviewing skills, zaniness and steroidal wit.
All of those traits she abandoned in a slap at Ivanka Trump, for not fulfilling the comic’s expectations in opposing the Trump administration’s barbaric policy of separating undocumented families as they reach the border. “Ivanka Trump, who works at the White House, chose to post the second-most-oblivious tweet we’ve seen this week,” said Bee, in an apparent reference to Roseanne Barr’s racist tweet denouncing former Obama adviser Valerie Jarrett. “You know, Ivanka, that’s a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, do something about your dad’s immigration practices, you feckless c—!”
Sure, there are times when comedians use profanity to good effect. Yet here, Bee showed that — at least for a moment — she was no better than your average vile social-media user. (Just do a search for the C-word on Twitter to see how popular it is.)
White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders denounced Bee’s denunciation. “Her disgusting comments and show are not fit for broadcast,” Sanders said in a statement, “and executives at Time Warner and TBS must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned on its network.”
Thursday afternoon, Bee posted an apology on Twitter:
I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it.
— Samantha Bee (@iamsambee) May 31, 2018
Management at TBS is also seeking to clear things up:
Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it.
— TBS Network (@TBSNetwork) May 31, 2018
Anyone wondering how Bee could have been so dumb need only track down the video. (As of now, it has been removed from Facebook and YouTube.) When she levels the profanity, cheers go up from the audience, from people who would flip out if any cable host deployed the same word against a Democrat. “Full Frontal” is a must-view program for the resistance to President Trump — and Bee appears to know how to please her fans. There’s a similar dynamic on view on Twitter on Thursday afternoon: Note how many people are doubling down on Bee’s initial use of “c—“, clearly disappointed by her apology. It’s like watching the country lose its decency in real time.