Comedy Central's Larry Wilmore vomited up the oft-used leftist insults of social conservatives on Tuesday's Nightly Show in a rant about Kentucky clerk Kim Davis. Wilmore hinted that her supporters were akin to the Ku Klux Klan, and mocked her Christian prayer gesture as a Nazi salute. The "comedian" later likened Davis to notorious segregationist George Wallace, and hyped that "going to jail for what you believe in does not necessarily put you on par with Martin Luther King. Jeffrey Dahmer was in jail because he believes in eating people. That doesn't make him a freedom fighter." [video below]
Wilmore ran video footage of Davis leaving prison, after being held in contempt of court for refusing to issue marriage licenses in the wake of the Supreme Court's same-sex "marriage" decision. Some of her supporters held crosses in their hands as they cheered the Democratic politician. The host used this detail to launch his KKK comparison: "I don't know about you guys, but...when I see a group of people in the South with white crosses cheering to not allow people their constitutional rights, it kind of just gives me a tingly, lynch-y feeling."
The liberal "comedian" continued with a clip of Davis herself addressing the crowd outside the jail. She held her arm aloft in prayer as she said, " I just want to give God the glory...his people have rallied, and you are a strong people!" Wilmore replied, "I love your passion, but be careful with the Nazi arm – just sayin'."
Wilmore then set up his likening of the Kentucky Democrat to George Wallace with a clip of Fox News contributor Robert Jeffress comparing Davis to Martin Luther King, Jr. The Comedy Central host underlined that "King was actually in opposition to the church's unwillingness to support the oppressed. Kim Davis, on the other hand, is using her church to oppress people even more." He continued with his Jeffrey Dahmer reference, and added that "if you're going to compare Kim Davis to someone from the 1960s civil rights movement, it should be...George Wallace, who famously stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama in defiance of the Supreme Court order to desegregate."
The left-leaning commentator posing as a comedian further emphasized his point by a playing a clip of Wallace's speech from the University of Alabama doorway, and concluded, "That's what Kim Davis sounds like – less like 'Letters from a Birmingham Jail,' and more like words from an Alabama bigot."
The transcript of the relevant portion of Larry Wilmore's opening monologue from Tuesday's Nightly Show on Comedy Central:
LARRY WILMORE: Anyway, today, she [Kim Davis] was let out of jail. Now, here's the thing: you would think after a shameful incident like this, she would kind of quietly walk out the back door, go home, and contemplate what Jesus actually cared about (audience laughs) – multiplying fish; raising people from the dead; turning water into wine; and also, loving thy neighbor as thyself. But remember, we're in Kentucky. (audience applauds) We are in Kentucky, and it's an election year. (audience laughs) So instead of coming out quietly, she fulfilled the scriptures by exiting jail thusly.
MIKE HUCKABEE: I believe that her act is going to wake up the politicians, the pastors, and the people. Would you please help me welcome to the stage, Kim Davis. (clip of Survivor's "Eye of the Tiger" plays).
WILMORE: (audience boos) Hold on: is Mike Huckabee playing 'Eye of the Tiger'? (audience laughs) You've got to (expletive deleted) kidding me! That's right – this county clerk came out of jail to a crowd full of supporters waving crosses to the theme from 'Rocky' – and not the – not the original 'Rocky,' but 'Rocky 3.' (audience laughs )
I don't know about you guys, but – I don't know – when I see a group of people in the South with white crosses, (audience laughs) cheering to not allow people their constitutional rights, it kind of just gives me a tingly, lynch-y feeling. (audience laughs and applauds) Guy covered his face 'Oh no! Larry, it's your first day back. You said lynch-y.'
All right. So what did she have to say?
KIM DAVIS: I just want to give God the glory. He is – his people have rallied, and you are a strong people!
WILMORE: Okay – um, I love your passion, but be careful with the Nazi arm – just – just sayin'. (audience laughs and applauds) But as far as Fox News is concerned, it is always the season to make a horrible comparison.
DR. ROBERT JEFFRESS (from Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends") You know, Martin Luther King, Jr. said whenever man's laws conflict with God's moral law, we have to obey God's moral law. But that belief landed Dr. King in a Birmingham jail – just as it landed Kim Davis in a Kentucky jail.
WILMORE: (audience boos) Mother (expletive deleted), you know you've never quoted Dr. King in your life! (audience cheers and applauds) Right? Come on. Yeah, I know it's a generalization, but you know I'm right! (audience laughs)
So, let me see if I've got this right: a lady forcing her religious beliefs onto an entire community refusing to do her job reminds you of King's 7,000-word meditation on non-violence and racism in the church. Oh God, I haven't seen someone miss the point so dramatically since they made Robert De Niro the intern in 'The Intern.' It doesn't make sense.
And just to clarify for the Kim Davis supporters who think this lady is a Dr. King: in his 'Letter from Birmingham City Jail,' King actually condemned the contemporary churches – quote, 'weak, ineffectual voice,' and said, 'Far from being disturbed by the presence of the church, the power structure of the average community is consoled by the church's silent – and often, even vocal – sanction of things as they are.' Martin Luther King was actually in opposition to the church's unwillingness to support the oppressed. Kim Davis, on the other hand, is using her church to oppress people even more. (audience cheers and applauds)
Going to jail – going to jail for what you believe in does not necessarily put you on par with Martin Luther King. Jeffrey Dahmer was in jail because he believes in eating people. That doesn't make him a freedom fighter. (audience laughs and applauds) And frankly, if you're going to compare Kim Davis to someone from the 1960s civil rights movement, it should be this guy – that's right; that's right – Alabama governor and dippity-do poster boy, George Wallace, who famously stood in the doorway of the University of Alabama in defiance of the Supreme Court order to desegregate.
GEORGE WALLACE (from file footage): I stand here today as governor of this sovereign state, and refuse to wittingly submit to the illegal usurpation of power by the central government.
WILMORE: That's what Kim Davis sounds like – less like 'Letters from a Birmingham Jail,' and more like words from an Alabama bigot.
