Comedian Dave Chappelle slams GOP for weaponizing his trans jokes

(NewsNation) — Comedian Dave Chappelle is not happy about the way his jokes are being used.

In a recent interview on NPR’s “Newsmakers,” Chappelle said he felt that his jokes about transgender people were “misrepresented” by people, especially by the Republican Party.

“I did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes. I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing. That’s not what I was doing,” Chappelle said.

Chappelle was scheduled to perform at the First Avenue venue in Minneapolis in July 2022, but the show was canceled following backlash over his material. The performance was later moved to a nearby venue.

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First Avenue issued a statement at the time apologizing for booking the show.

“To staff, artists, and our community, we hear you, and we are sorry,” the statement said in part. “We know we must hold ourselves to the highest standards, and we know we let you down. We are not just a black box with people in it, and we understand that First Ave is not just a room, but meaningful beyond our walls.”

In his 2021 Netflix comedy special “The Closer,” Chappelle described himself as “Team TERF,” made comments about transgender women’s anatomy and compared transgender women to white people wearing blackface, according to Time Magazine.

Chappelle said the backlash surrounding the special became what he called a “media phenomenon,” accusing news outlets of “rage-baiting” in their coverage.

“They almost reported on it as if I was doing something other than a comedy show,” Chappelle told NPR. “Reading a joke is a lot different than sitting in a room and hearing it.”

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