From The Department of Double Standards
Gayle King is one of the co-anchors of the CBS television morning program, currently called “CBS Mornings”. She previously was best known as a TV host who was best friends with Oprah Winfrey.
Rumors are circulating that she is under consideration to host a prime time hour on CNN; they have a hole to fill at 8 p.m. Iowa time, and the CEO of CNN, Chris Licht, was formerly executive producer of the CBS program King works on…so they have a positive work history.
She was asked about this at a public trade industry event last week. Her response was curious.
“I’m very close to Chris Licht. I like him very much, but on that question, ‘Me no speak English’,” she said. She continued, “Let’s just say I have two years left on my contract with CBS, and I have no intention of leaving CBS.”
Double duty has precedent, though; Anderson Cooper is a prime-time CNN host who moonlights as a correspondent on CBS’ “60 Minutes”. But that’s not the part that is curious.
In responding to the question, she mocked non-English-speaking individuals, saying “Me no speak English” to deflect the question. I have not heard audio or seen video of it, so I do not know if she made it worse by using some sort of accent.
Now, imagine if someone from Newsmax, Fox News, or a Republican politician used the phrase “Me no speak English” like that. There would be calls for that person to resign in humiliation, they’d be called racist, and protests would spring up outside the building where they worked.
But I have heard nothing about Gayle King being held responsible for her comments. Instead, she’s supposedly being offered more time on television. I hope that her race, gender, and politics are not a factor.
Oh, by the way…her CBS program is last among the broadcast networks, some 800-thousand viewers behind “Good Morning American” on ABC and 500-thousand viewers behind NBC’s “Today” show. In that respect, she’ll fit right in at CNN, which last week notched its worst prime time ratings in 30 years.
