Dave Chappelle<\/strong><\/a> is addressing his jokes about the transgender community, and how they were used by Republicans.<\/p>\nThe 51-year-old comedian sat down with NPR<\/em> to discuss his career in comedy, which included his controversial 2021 Netflix special The Closer<\/em>, followed by The Dreamer<\/em>, where he also made trans jokes.<\/p>\nKeep reading to find out more\u2026<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n\u201cI did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes. You know, I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing. That\u2019s not what I was doing,\u201d he said on NPR\u2019s Newsmakers<\/em>.<\/p>\n\u201cI\u2019ll give you an example, before I learned the phrase, \u2018I respectfully decline,\u2019 I was on Capitol Hill, and everybody ran up to take pictures with me from every congressional office. And I just take pictures with whoever asked. I didn\u2019t ask how they vote or what their voting record is. At first, it was CBC people. Then here comes Lauren Boebert<\/strong> and she said, \u2018Can I get a picture?\u2019 And I had already taken 40 pictures. I didn\u2019t want to say no in front of everybody, but I didn\u2019t know the phrase \u2018I respectfully decline.\u2019 So I just took the picture,\u201d he continued.<\/p>\n