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Dave Chappelle<\/a> spoke out against the Republican Party<\/a> this week for the ways in which he believes GOP lawmakers have \u201cweaponized\u201d his controversial history<\/a> of joking about<\/a> the transgender community. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In an interview with NPR<\/a> this week, Chappelle suggested that prominent Republicans<\/a> had taken his trans-focused comedy wildly out of context. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cI did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes,\u201d he said. \u201cI felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing. That\u2019s not what I was doing.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As an example, Chappelle recalled a 2023 visit to Washington, D.C., during which Rep. Lauren Boebert<\/a> (R-Colo.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna<\/a> (R-Fla.) asked him for a photo. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Boebert later shared the image<\/a> on X, writing: \u201cJust three people who understand that there\u2019s only two genders.\u201d <\/p>\n<\/div>\n Noting that Boebert had instantly \u201cpoliticized\u201d an otherwise apolitical image, Chappelle said he doesn\u2019t ask how people vote before agreeing to pose for a photo with them. Still, he added, \u201cI got to the arena, and I lit her ass up for doing that. And she should never do that to a person like me.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Chappelle has drawn the ire<\/a> of LGBTQ+ advocacy groups and allies in recent years for taking aim<\/a> at the trans community in his stand-up performances and televised comedy specials. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n In 2021, Netflix employees <\/span>staged a walkout<\/span><\/a> of the company\u2019s Los Angeles offices following the release of \u201c<\/span>The Closer<\/span><\/a>,\u201d one of Chappelle\u2019s comedy specials on the streaming platform, which included jokes about trans people. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n For the most part, the comedian has pushed back<\/a> on claims he\u2019s transphobic. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cDo I discriminate against somebody because they\u2019re trans? I would like to think absolutely not,\u201d he told The Washington Blade<\/a> in 2017. \u201cI\u2019m not an obstructionist of anybody\u2019s lifestyle, as long as it doesn\u2019t hurt me or people I love and I don\u2019t believe that lifestyle does.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As for Chappelle\u2019s latest claims in his NPR interview, however, many LGBTQ+ rights advocates weren\u2019t buying them. <\/p>\n<\/div>\n \u201cIf Dave Chappelle didn\u2019t expect his trans \u2018jokes\u2019 to be weaponized by Republicans as hate speech and policy, he\u2019s the most oblivious person on the planet. But the thing is… Chappelle isn\u2019t oblivious,\u201d trans activist Charlotte Clymer wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cFor him to now pretend he didn\u2019t expect the secondary effects his commentary would create and encourage is a punk-ass coward move.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n