This week, the Bill O’Reilly Show ran a segment that consisted of Jesse Watters visiting Chinatown and mocking Chinese and Asian culture with indefensible racism and cruelty. Watters’ conducts a series of on-the-street interviews and intercuts them with stereotyped film clips, music and outdated cultural references. He mocks people who don’t speak English, he confuses Chinese with other Southeast Asian cultural references, he does, in short, what Fox News encourages its contributors to do, behaves like a condescending smug fucker.
It is horrible, but I’m posting it, because I think you should watch it. I think you should see what passes muster at Fox News. What Bill O’Reilly allows to run on his show. And what Jesse Watters thinks is funny.
It’s no surprise that the segment sparked controversy. You can search out the litany of negative reactions on twitter for yourself. But one response rises above the rest, and it comes from The Daily Show‘s Ronny Chieng.
“They say China in the debate,” Chieng starts, “so you go to Chinatown? In New York? When they mention Mexico do you send someone to Taco Bell?”
Chieng’s segment is cutting and hilarious and pointed; it is all the things that Watters’ segment is not. With Chieng, you can see The Daily Show provide the kind of work that Jon Stewart used to encourage all his contributors to do, be funny and go for the jugular. Do yourself a favor and take a look at Chieng’s take down of Fox News’ “ignorant sack of shit.”
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