RUSH: Not much time to intro here because we have a tight window, but now is time to play for you the interview, the conversation I had yesterday afternoon with the three hosts of The Breakfast Club about the George Floyd story. I just wanted to reach out to some people that reach a large segment of the African-American community and have a conversation about it, and this is what happened.
BEGIN INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: Folks, something special here. You know, I’ve been doing this program for 31 years and prior to this program, a number of years before that in various cities across the country. And during this period of time we’ve gone through civil unrest, we’ve had race riots, we’ve had kind of what is happening now, although this may be unprecedented in a couple of ways. The one thing I’ve never done throughout this entire period is reach out to people on the other side of this. I mean, I’ve wanted to, I just have never done it, and I decided that I need to do this.
I decided that I need to not just assume the people in my audience are gonna hear me. I need to reach out to people who aren’t there. So I started asking around, “If I wanted to reach the largest number and the most influential number of African-Americans and other minorities in America, who should I talk to?” And everybody kept coming back at me with The Breakfast Club. “You have to have the people, The Breakfast Club, you have to talk to them.” And so they have graciously agreed to do this. We’re taping this on Sunday afternoon. They have been very kind and giving up a portion of their day to make this possible.
And I want to introduce them to you now. They are three people who have earned the trust of their audience in the mornings. They are syndicated morning drive. You don’t know how hard that is. It’s very difficult to get local radio stations to give up their morning drive to a syndicated show, and these three have pulled that off. It’s amazing. They have built a substantial audience. They are Charlamagne Tha God, Angela Yee and DJ Envy. They are cohosts of what’s called The Breakfast Club.
DJ ENVY: Yes.
RUSH: Every Democrat candidate for president this year has made it their business to appear on The Breakfast Club, and now it’s my honor to appear on The Breakfast Club even though I’m not a Democrat. Now, guys, can I tell you why I wanted to have you here? You know, the George Floyd story is being lost.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Right.
RUSH: There are two things happening in America, and it sickens me what happened to him, legitimate national outrage about a policeman’s criminal brutality has been hijacked. And I don’t want to forget about George Floyd. What happened to George Floyd sickened me. And I wanted to reach out and tell you all this. I want to make sure you have no doubt. And I’m not the only American who feels this way, the senselessness of it.
You know, we’re only given one life. We don’t get a do-over. We only get one. We all take it for granted because, you know, it just happened. We’re born, we don’t even remember that. But George Floyd had his taken away from him. He didn’t lose it. He had it taken away from him in a senseless, stupid way. And I think most Americans are just as angry and sad about this as I am, and I’m also the angry the cops that stood around there and didn’t do anything to stop it. I can’t tell you how frustrating it is, and I just wanted to share the emotion I have with you guys about this and to try to convey to you that I actually think most Americans are just as sickened and outraged by it as I am.
ANGELA YEE: Yeah, and you know what one of the worst things is I feel like we’re so accustomed to being in these situations where we get frustrated, where nothing happens, and these police officers are back out doing the same thing over and over again, and that’s part of the frustration, is this is not an isolated incident. This is something that’s been happening in our community, it hasn’t stopped, we don’t see when it will stop, and I think people are frustrated, and it’s a combination of so many different things right now.
RUSH: Well, that’s I think absolutely right. If you looked at the actual circumstance here, you had what happened to him and it’s on video.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Right.
RUSH: You’ve got the cop, the cop standing there almost looking like he’s bragging or having fun exerting power. How stupid is the cop? Can the cop not be aware of what we in this country are going through precisely because of what he’s doing at that moment? How can anybody be that insensitive or stupid? It’s beyond me to understand.
DJ ENVY: It almost felt like the more that people were telling him that he was killing ’em and that there was blood coming out of his nose and that he was lifeless, it was giving him a hard-on. He really felt like — just looking at his face, I think that was probably the closest thing to a devil that I’ve ever seen in my life. That gave him a hard-on. It was his ego that just allowed him to keep applying pressure and applying pressure and taking that man’s life.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Let me ask you a question, Rush.
RUSH: Sure.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: This is Charlamagne talking. We’ve seen numerous police killings of unarmed black people in this country. Why is the George Floyd situation the one that’s making you say enough is enough and this needs to stop. Why this situation in particular?
RUSH: ‘Cause I’m fed up with it. I mean, I’m not tolerant of any of them, but I’m fed up with it, Charlamagne. None of this — see, to me — and I know that you’re gonna disagree with me on this. To me, this is not America. It’s a sad —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Oh, no, it’s definitely America.
RUSH: Well, see, but it’s not what we can be. It’s not what we have been. We’re the greatest nation in the history of the world, and we haven’t achieved that on the basis —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: For who, though, Rush? I think that — I think it’s easy for you to say because you’re a white male and that comes with a different level of privilege, and I do think America does work, but it works for the people that it was designed to work for. It doesn’t work for everybody else the way it works for you.
RUSH: Well, it can. That’s the point of America, it can for anybody who wants to adapt to it, for anybody who wants to try to take advantage of the unique opportunities that exist in the United States. We’re the only nation that’s ever enshrined the concept of individual liberty and freedom in our founding documents. We’re the only country that’s ever created a document to govern ourselves that limits government. Now, you know, look, gang, I can’t say that I’ve faced discrimination — (crosstalk)
ANGELA YEE: George Floyd wasn’t doing anything wrong. Breonna Taylor got killed in her house. She wasn’t doing anything wrong. And so it’s not that people haven’t adapted to things, it’s just that we get targeted and then there’s no punishment when the police officers commit these crimes against us.
RUSH: No, no, I —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Talk about it —
RUSH: I didn’t mean to conflate that George Floyd could have stopped what was gonna happen to him. Don’t misunderstand.
ANGELA YEE: Okay.
RUSH: George Floyd is the essence of innocence. But what I’m saying is is that America is a place with robust opportunity if you want to go out and look for it and find it. Now, the people ripping up the streets today and last night, the Antifa types, they don’t care to find the opportunity. They disagree with the whole construct of America.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I gotta push back on you with that too. It’s not just the Antifa types, you know what I’m saying? Like you see all these white folks out there protesting, looting, raising hell, you know what I’m saying? Let’s not act like there isn’t 40 million people who have filed for unemployment in America, folks that have been sitting around the last three months waiting on stimulus checks, more than 44% of those people have been denied unemployment checks are still waiting on ’em to come. People of all races are broke. They don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
RUSH: Well, yeah.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Their savings are exhausted, if they had any. They don’t know how they’re gonna pay bills, so of course they gonna go out there and loot, of course they’re angry and frustrated.
RUSH: Unnecessarily, it turns out, unnecessarily. There was no reason to shut down the country, there was no reason to lock everybody — of course you put 40 million people out of work and tell ’em, you know, you penalize them when they do try to open their businesses, you’re gonna create a powder keg, a powder keg has been created.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: That’s right. That’s correct, that’s why I can’t allow you to say that it’s just Antifa out there because it is a lot of white people who are frustrated — (crosstalk)
RUSH: Well, but the Antifa people — look, look, look. The Antifa people are the violent ones. The Antifa people are the ones that are trying to capitalize on it. Of course there’s some legitimate heartfelt people out there peacefully protesting. But look, you guys, let me tell you, you are a testament to the opportunity available in America. Look at you. How did you do it? What did you have to overcome to become The Breakfast Club and what did you have to overcome to become dominant in morning drive in American radio? Who held you back or what were you able to overcome in order to do it? The opportunity is there, is the only thing I’m saying.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Right. But Rush — (crosstalk)
DJ ENVY: You talk about peacefully protest, right? And you were very opinionated about Colin Kaepernick when he was peacefully protesting, right? And now people are saying, “Oh, they’re not peacefully protesting.” This is the same thing Colin Kaepernick was kneeling for that the world was so upset about and the world said he’s taking it too far and he doesn’t know what he’s talking about. This is exactly the reason why he was kneeling and protesting. The fact that an unarmed, African-American man was doing nothing, they still don’t even know if he had a fake $10 or $20 bill or not. And that man kneeled on George Floyd for damn near nine sec — nine minutes and killed that man, murdered that man.
RUSH: Look, I – (crosstalk)
DJ ENVY: And looked at us like, yeah, I’m doing it and what?
RUSH: Guys, I’m trying to tell you, I’m all with you, I’m a thousand percent with you on this. This is why I wanted to talk to you because I know that there are — you know, we all have preconceptions that we live under and biases that we live under, and I wanted to reach out to you guys specifically, you were the ones that I was told to speak to, that this is intolerable. Now — but — (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I’m happy to have the conversation. I’m glad you’re having it because I think your audience needs to hear it. And, you know, you said something a little a while ago and I wanted to talk about that. This is a country, America, that denies, you know, black people justice and just plain decency and then they act like we’re just supposed to be happy to be here because it allows a few of us, when a majority of us out here catch hell —
RUSH: When did I say that? (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: — oh, you said — you said — you said, you know, you guys made it —
DJ ENVY: You guys made it. (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Y’all are successful, you know what I’m saying? But the rest of us are catching hell out here. All I heard is George Floyd. You’re acting like this is an isolated incident.
RUSH: Charlamagne, you’re adding things to my mouth that I didn’t say. You’re adding syllables I have not uttered. I was trying to be complimentary of you and I’m trying to illustrate – (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yes.
RUSH: — that you are an example to others that want to try, you can succeed. Let me ask a quick question. If the Minnesota Vikings had announced two nights ago that they were gonna hire Colin Kaepernick, would the riots have stopped?
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: No! Nobody gives a (bleep) about that. What are you talking about?
RUSH: Well, you guys brought up Kaepernick.
DJ ENVY: Kaepernick. His name is Kaepernick. (crosstalk)
RUSH: Kaepernick. Sorry. You guys brought up Colin — and I’m just asking, if the Vikings had signed him, would the people of Minnesota, oh, good okay, he’s got a gig, we’re not gonna protest anymore.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: No, because that’s not gonna stop white supremacy, that’s not gonna stop racism. Okay? (Unintelligible) George Floyd, but that was not an isolated incident. This is a regular occurrence for black people in this country —
RUSH: Let me ask you — (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: — don’t want to change the system.
RUSH: How do you stop it? (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I have a question for you. I want to know. How are you gonna use your privilege as a white male to combat this prejudice. You got a direct line to Donald Trump. (crosstalk)
RUSH: No, wait a minute, I don’t buy into the notion of white privilege. See, I think that’s a liberal —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: You’re being —
RUSH: That’s a liberal — (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: You’re being delusional.
RUSH: — political construct right along the lines of political correctness. It’s designed to intimidate and get people to shut up and admit they’re guilty of doing things they haven’t done. I don’t have any white privilege — (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Do you know what white privilege is? White privilege is that what happened to George Floyd would not have happened to a white man.
RUSH: If what happened to George Floyd had happened to a white man we probably wouldn’t have even heard about it.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Huh?
DJ ENVY: We definitely would have heard about it. You definitely —
RUSH: You think so? If George Floyd — if George — if George — (crosstalk)
DJ ENVY: — be killed by –(crosstalk)
ANGELA YEE: Yeah, I would like to — (crosstalk)
RUSH: I don’t think — if George Floyd — (crosstalk)
ANGELA YEE: Rush, there’s a lot of instances where this does happen and we don’t hear about it. There’s a lot of times that there’s no video that exists and then people are — police officers lie and they say this is what happened, just like we’ve seen it happen so many different times where fortunately there was video. There’s a lot of cases that won’t make it.
RUSH: I think – (crosstalk)
ANGELA YEE: That don’t go viral. (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Never hear about it, that never make it to TV, that never make it to social media because there is no phones, there is — (crosstalk)
RUSH: I think you misunderstood what I said, guys. I said if George Floyd were white, we wouldn’t have heard of this. And if the same thing had happened to him, we wouldn’t have heard about it, it wouldn’t be — you know, we — (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Would you be outraged, right?
RUSH: How do we end racism? Would you tell me — (crosstalk)
DJ ENVY: Wouldn’t hear about it, you know why, because that cop would have been arrested, he would have been fired, he could have charged with murder a long time before all of this.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Charged, yeah.
DJ ENVY: Immediately, before the video hit social media he would have been charged, fired, arrested and locked up and all that if George Floyd was white.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: There’s a Muslim officer in Minneapolis now doing 12 and a half years because he accidentally killed a white woman. I mean, I don’t get it. But let me ask you a question, Rush, ’cause I remember in 2014 you criticized President Obama, and you said he should do more to ease racial tensions in the wake of the grand jury decision to not indict the white police officers in Ferguson. You said if he wants to he can inspire and I think it’s called for in this situation. Shouldn’t that same advice apply to President Trump right now?
DJ ENVY: Absolutely.
RUSH: I think it applies to all presidents. Absolutely, no question about it. That’s one of their roles is to calm circumstances and situations like this. But look, guys, our time is dwindling. Can I ask you — you keep harping on white privilege and racism. Would you tell me how to end it? What can we do to end this so that you are not frustrated and angry and feeling like whatever you feel like? ‘Cause I hate it. You guys — we’re all Americans here and I don’t like the fact that you’re – (crosstalk)
DJ ENVY: Arrest those others officers — (crosstalk)
RUSH: — angry all the time, so what can do to stop the racism.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Here’s the thing, right? As long as there’s a system of white supremacy, you know, there will always be these type of situations, you know, it doesn’t matter who’s in the White House, if that person is not willing to dismantle the mechanism of white supremacy. If that person is not willing to change legislation that disproportionality impacts black folk it doesn’t matter. You know what I’m saying? Like we’ve seen this a million times — (crosstalk)
RUSH: Okay. But tell me what happened — you had four years of Barack Obama. You had Americans, white Americans voting for Obama ’cause they wanted to say we’re not racist, we’re not a racist country. You had people electing the first African-American president in our history. He served for eight years. Why isn’t there anything to show for it that makes you less angry than you were then?
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Once again, it doesn’t matter who’s in the White House if that person is not willing to dismantle the mechanism of white supremacy — (crosstalk)
RUSH: Come on, guys. Elections don’t matter now? (crosstalk)
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Here’s the thing. I think that we gotta stop acting like white supremacy isn’t done by design, the whole function of systemic racism is to marginalize black people and it’s very hard to get any damn near 80-year-old white man to change a system that’s been working for him and his family for years, I don’t care if it’s Biden or Trump. So, once again, we need people that are willing to dismantle the mechanism of white supremacy, period.
RUSH: Okay, so let me… Let me ask you guys a question. Why do you still vote Democrat?
(long pause)
ANGELA YEE: I vote for whoever I think is the best candidate.
RUSH: Because Democrats —
DJ ENVY: I’m voting my (crosstalk).
RUSH: — have been promising to fix your grievances for 50 years and you have the same grievances, you have the same complaints. They haven’t done a damn thing for you. They haven’t even punished the people that you think are responsible for the racism and bigotry being done to you. Why do you keep supporting them?
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yeah, and, you know, I don’t disagree with you, and that’s why I’m not letting nobody politicize black pain and tell us this is one person’s fault just because they are trying to win an election in November. This is America’s fault — and the War on Drugs, mass incarceration, segregation, slavery, all of those things are and have been the proverbial knee on the back of black folks’ neck. And ’til somebody’s willing to dismantle the mechanism of white supremacy, nothin’ is gonna change.
ANGELA YEE: Well, Rush, I also don’t want to lose track of what we’re talking about here, because I know we’re trying to focus on George Floyd and what’s happening with him and how can we take some actionable steps to move forward and what can be done, right? So, on your end, what are some things that you feel like can be done?
RUSH: I think that cop should be charged with first-degree murder —
DJ ENVY: Absolutely.
RUSH: — and I think that the guys standing around ought to be charged, the other cops that were standing around. I think it’s time to end this. Look, we are all aware of police brutality. We’re all aware of the actions that some rogue cops take, and it’s way too many of ’em against African-American men, and it’s time to stop. You know, I’m not a policeman; I’m not an executive in a police department.
But it seems to me that if those people end up being charged instead of shielded when they commit murder… There shouldn’t be any legalized murder. And that would be one way to at least get a start on making sure it doesn’t happen. George Floyd, from everything I’ve been able to tell, was a good guy. He was a nice guy, had a family, did not even come close to deserving having his life taken from him like this.
DJ ENVY: Not at all. Now, do you agree with the way that the media’s portraying everything? You’re in media. You know, media’s a white media, of course. Do you agree with how they’re portraying everything that’s going on right now?
RUSH: Pshew! God, I don’t think we’ve gotten the truth out of most media in three or four years. I don’t… No, and I think that’s another reason why people are mad, you guys. They know they’ve been lied to! They were lied to about so many things for two, three, four years now. And so now they don’t know what to believe coming out of the media.
I don’t care what it is — Fox, CNN, New York Times, Washington Post — there doesn’t seem to be anywhere in our culture that people have trust in an institution or series of institutions that provide a backstop and reliability when something like this happens. And I think that’s creating or contributing to even more of the unrest that’s happening out there.
END INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: And this is our first break. We miscalculated this by some two minutes. And since I’m host, I’m gonna take the hit for it. We could have kept this going for another couple of minutes. There’s another nine minutes of this, is the point. And we’re gonna get to that after our bottom-of-the-hour break. If you’re just tuning in and wondering what this was, just to briefly reset the table — and I still haven’t…
I still haven’t gotten over watching the video of what happened to George Floyd. As I say, I’ve run out of words to describe the combination of anger and… I don’t know. There was obviously sadness and so forth, but just livid, livid rage over this. I don’t understand how the cop could do it! I don’t know how one person can do that to another person.
I know there’s cruelty out there. I know. I’m not naive. But it’s just so senseless. The guy has his life taken! He’s a good guy. So I wanted… Rather than just to sit here and tell everyone of you about this frustration, I wanted to reach out to some people in the African-American community and talk to them about it. It’s said that we need to communicate, get to know each other and so forth.
So I asked around and I said, “Who in media do I go to? Where in media do I go if I want to reach the largest segment of African-Americans who listen to radio in America?” Everybody said, “The Breakfast Club,” and so that’s what happened. We taped a conversation yesterday afternoon at three o’clock with The Breakfast Club, and the three voices that you were hearing are DJ Envy, Angela Yee, and Charlamagne tha God.
These people have been in the news a lot lately. Every Democrat presidential candidate has gone through their show, and it was on this program that Charlamagne tha God did the interview with Biden where Biden said if you ain’t voting Democrat — if you ain’t voting for me — “you ain’t black,” and where he caught all kinds of grief for that.
So we taped it yesterday afternoon, and as I say, there’s nine more minutes to go. This is the first I’ve heard it. I did not listen to it after it was taped yesterday. I wanted to listen to it live with all of you. So when we come back from the bottom-of-the-hour break, there’s another eight or nine minutes to wrap this up. We have a spot break, and then we’ll have room for a couple of calls, maybe three, if any of you want to react to it.
It’s fascinating to do something like this. You know, I’ve told you that when I did TV, I didn’t like it. Because every time I thought I had done a great show, nobody else did. And every time I thought I had been pretty bad, everybody raved about it, and I got more comments about my ties than anything I’d ever said.
Television became a very frustrating thing to do to get legitimate feedback on, because people saw and heard different things than what I wanted them to see or hear. And the same thing happened here yesterday. The reaction that I got first to the interview was from people who thought, “My God, they disrespected you! They were rude and so forth,” and I didn’t hear that because… Well, I just didn’t hear it.
I didn’t hear the rudeness and the disrespect, and then I just chalked it up the fact that I’m deaf and I don’t hear half, statistically, of what’s said to me anyway — and then if there’s crosstalk, I don’t hear any of that. But this was… This was, I think, valuable and worthwhile, and I’m glad there’s nine more minutes of it for you to hear, which we’ll get to right after this.
BREAK TRANSCRIPT
RUSH: We have nine minutes left of the conversation with the gang at The Breakfast Club. This last segment is probably where it gets the most heated that it was, and there will be conversations here about white privilege and white supremacy, white supremacists. Sometimes I mishear “white privilege” and “white supremacy,” and end up talking about things that they did not bring up. That’s my memory of it here.
We’ll see how this plays out ’cause I’m hearing this for the first time right along with you.
So here is the resumption…
BEGIN INTERVIEW CLIP
ANGELA YEE: Rush, how would you (crosstalk) want Trump to handle this situation? Because I see that he’s having some issues. He’s calling some people thugs. He’s talking about siccing the dogs on people if they try to come into the White House. But then you see how he treats people who are protesting the stay-at-home order — and they have guns and they are white people — and they’re fine people. So I just want to know what advice could you give to the president right now this is what we need to do and this is how we should handle it? Because I don’t think he’s handling it properly with his verbiage.
RUSH: I think what the president ought to do is use the God-given humility that he has — and don’t doubt me that he does. He has a lot of humility.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Nothing humble about the president. C’mon.
RUSH: No, there is. Even at every rally you will see his —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: He’s all ego.
RUSH: — his appreciation for people that show up. But it’s a simple matter of understanding he’s president of everybody here, and trying to quell these moments of unrest is something that would be really, really to his advantage.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I think what you said about Obama in 2014 applies, when you said, “If he wants to, he can inspire,” and I think is called for in this situation.
RUSH: I… Look, man —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: But I don’t think he wants to inspire. I think he wants to incite.
RUSH: Well, okay. First, I do agree with you about the inspiration. I think he can. I think he should. I think all presidents should. In terms of Trump inciting, look, the guy has had everybody and their uncle telling lies and falsehoods about him for 3-1/2, four years now, and he’s probably a little fed up with it.
Before the shutdown happened, look at what black unemployment was. It was a record low. The number of African-Americans that had jobs, the wages were going up. And then this virus comes along and the bottom is pulled out from under everybody. He’s gotta be frustrated as he can be, and I’m not trying to carry his water here —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Well, the black unemployment rate started going down under Obama, too, though. I mean that’s one thing that Trump takes credit for that actually started under President Obama.
RUSH: It did? Okay. Well, that’s —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Yes.
RUSH: (laughing) Then I’ll —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Can I ask you a question, Rush?
RUSH: Yeah.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Moving forward, all right, ’cause let’s say the cops get arrested. The cops gets charged; he goes to jail. Great. How do we dismantle white supremacy as a whole moving forward?
RUSH: Well, that’s another show, guys, because, A, I don’t… You’d have to define what it means to you, white supremacy, ’cause I don’t feel like I am a white supremacist, and I don’t think there’s much white supremacy going on out there. But I need to have you define it. See, this is one of the divides.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I’ll tell you that, to me, once again, this system is designed to work for the people that it was built by, and that’s white folks — particularly old white men. And now that people have had enough, because those white folks I spoke about earlier who are out there, you know, who really love black people as much as they love black culture, and they’re out there standing with black folks and they want to fight with us, I think this is the tipping point. And we right now are at that point where we can finally force America to live up to its grand promises of liberty and justice for all, and not just liberty and justice for white folks.
RUSH: I think that it has. That’s my point back to the beginning of the program.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Ah, Rush.
RUSH: It has! It’s out there. You guys have done it. Look, we’re out of time here. But would you guys like to do this again where we pick it up right from this point, and maybe make the focus on white supremacy.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Not — not if we just gonna dance the whole time. If you gonna have some honest conversation with us —
RUSH: Now, come on.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: — and stop telling us things like white privilege doesn’t exist —
RUSH: Charlamagne…
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: — and you don’t know what white supremacy is. (chuckling) If we could do that, yes.
ANGELA YEE: Well, Rush —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: If not, it’s a waste of time.
ANGELA YEE: — I’m very into having these conversations, because I do think it is important for white people to acknowledge the hurt that they’ve inflicted on the African-American community and to be able to come forward and admit that we can’t even move forward until that happens.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Have to be honest, though.
RUSH: Well, that’s what I was attempting to do here with all of you today. On the white supremacy thing, I’m not in any kind of denial. I just know that it’s a politically charged element of the Democrat Party’s politics and liberalism, and I do not cave or compromise or give one iota’s of an inch to liberalism no matter what.
So white supremacy or white privilege is a construct of today’s Democrat Party, and I’m not gonna agree with any aspect of it as they put it forth. I’m not denying that there are certain individuals out there who think they’re better than other people. But structurally, institutionally, “white supremacy,” it’s a construct.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: You can’t see how white people are just treated better in this country than black people?
DJ ENVY: He has to see that.
ANGELA YEE: Even just as far as how many people get pulled over by the police officers.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: (laughing)
DJ ENVY: He has to see that.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Man —
DJ ENVY: We can have these conversations, but we’ve got to be honest with each other. Like, you gotta admit that.
(crosstalk)
ANGELA YEE: Yeah, how disproportionately black people are getting pulled over —
RUSH: You guys, you know, you set these things.
ANGELA YEE: — disproportionately getting shot by the cops.
RUSH: No, wait. When you set these things up, you have no idea how… I can imagine what you’re gonna say if I sit here and say you have no idea how I have been mistreated by various elements, various groups, various companies, various individuals my whole life. It’s called life, and it happens —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Rush…
RUSH: — and we’re all mistreated. I’ve been fired nine times in my career.
DJ ENVY: But have you ever got thrown out your car because you were driving a nice car?
RUSH: Have I ever had —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Have you ever been patted down just for being black? (crosstalk)
RUSH: Yeah, I’ve had my car keyed. I’ve had my tires blown. Of course.
ANGELA YEE: No.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Rush, stop.
DJ ENVY: I’m talking about thrown out your car by a police officer because you’re black driving a nice car, or walking down the street in Queens — the area where you’re from — and the police pulling you over and patting you down? Has these things happened to you?
ANGELA YEE: For no reason.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Did not.
DJ ENVY: Don’t talk about keying a car. I done got shot at —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: You’re not —
DJ ENVY: They done shot up my car. Don’t talk about keying a car and popping a tire.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: You’re not — you’re not —
DJ ENVY: I’m talking about someone just pulling you out because you’re black —
RUSH: No, but, see, I’m a hermit.
DJ ENVY: — ’cause you did nothing.
RUSH: I’m a hermit and recluse and I don’t go out and do all that kind of stuff. No, that kind of stuff has never happened to me. I’ll grant you.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I want to ask you without question before we get out of here —
RUSH: I never had the cops assume that I… Well, actually, no, that isn’t true. I have been pursued —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Oh, Rush, stop! (laughing)
RUSH: I have been pursued by the cops. I was pursued by them.
ALL: (laughing)
RUSH: Absolutely I have. But look, the guys —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Last question.
RUSH: No, no. Let me thank you again for giving me the time today —
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Okay.
RUSH: — and having access to you and at least the chance to talk to you. I do appreciate it, and maybe we can do it again. I look forward to it.
DJ ENVY: Thank you, Rush.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: I do want to know why you think all the white —
DJ ENVY: Rest in peace, George.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: That’s right. All the white kids out there in the front lines protesting and fighting with black people, I salute them, but why do you think they’re out there, Rush?
RUSH: ‘Cause they’re fed up with what happened to George Floyd! They’re fed up with this situation that will not stop that caused all this and provided the opportunity for all this to happen — meaning the opportunity to protest and riot. There are more Americans fed up with it than you know. That’s my point.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: What about America, though? You don’t think the fact that there’s 40 million people who filed for unemployment?
RUSH: Uhhh.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: The largest unemployment rate since the Depression era? You don’t think they’re fed up about that, too?
RUSH: I already acknowledged that earlier in the conversation. You can’t put 40 million people out of work. But I’m telling you that you have a lot of simpatico people out there. White people were marching in the sixties with Dr. King.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: That’s right.
RUSH: In fact, Dr. King’s death did not cause this kind of strife in this country.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: Martin Luther King Jr. is dead because of racism and white supremacy.
RUSH: Well, okay. If that’s your answer to everything, that I don’t know where we go.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: (laughing) It is, though! (laughing) It is. He’s dead because he was fighting against racism and white supremacy.
RUSH: All right.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: That’s why he’s dead.
RUSH: Well, good luck, guys.
DJ ENVY: Thank you for all the conversation. We appreciate it.
RUSH: If we can do this again, we’ll do it again.
DJ ENVY: Love to.
ANGELA YEE: Yeah.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: All right.
RUSH: This is The Breakfast Club — Charlamagne tha God, Angela Yee, and DJ Envy — and thank you guys so much for your time.
DJ ENVY: Thank you. Rest in peace, George.
CHARLAMAGNE THA GOD: All right, Rush.
END INTERVIEW CLIP
RUSH: And that was it. So they appeared with me, “Russ” Limbaugh (chuckles), and you hear “white supremacy.” Even before the interview or this conversation aired, white supremacy — not to be confused with white privilege, although I think they’re used interchangeably and mean the same thing. White supremacy is a construct that is designed to shut off debate.
It’s designed to automatically proclaim certain people guilty and end it, and then they benefit whether they do or not simply because of the color of their skin. So, anyway, that’s how it went, and I was serious about perhaps continuing it with them. I don’t know if they were or not, but I was.