Weeks after making racially charged comments resulting in his nationally syndicated cartoon being pulled from newspapers nationwide, “Dilbert” creator Scott Adams pled his case to NewsNation host Chris Cuomo Monday night.
The 65-year-old cartoonist made headlines late last month on his “Real Coffee with Scott Adams” web program with a rant that included the suggestion white people should “get the hell away from Black people.”
He made that comment after citing a questionably worded poll claiming a sizable number of Black people take issue with the phrase “It’s okay to be white.”
On Monday, Adams told Cuomo he “intentionally courted controversy” to make a larger point about how strained racial relationships are in the U.S. He said the comments making the rounds online need more context.
“There’s no other way to interpret it than the worst possible way,” he conceded.
He claimed to have been framing his larger point in a way he knew would “attract attention,” which, according to Adams, took on a life of its own.
“I knew it would create controversy in a small way, but I thought it would stay within my audience,” he said.
Adams, snickering throughout the interview with a stone-faced Cuomo, claimed “Black America is actually completely fine” with his overall argument and said he’s being invited to ‘come over to the barbecue.’”
Adams claims he doesn’t believe segregation is good, or even possible in the U.S., but he accepts responsibility for his statements.
“I’m probably the only white man in America who has free speech today because I can say whatever the hell I want and I can’t get further canceled,” Adams claimed. “So I’ve had this insanely, weirdly, good experience out of this that I can’t explain.”
Cuomo is no stranger to public scrutiny himself. The 52-year-old anchorman was canned by CNN in December 2021 amid complaints he aided people doing spin for his brother, the former governor, who was under scrutiny over sexual harassment claims. Cuomo himself was also accused of sexual harassment.
“You’re actually kind of the perfect person to talk to,” Adams said at the top of the interview.
Cuomo said at the end of the show he worries silencing Adams sends the wrong message to racists who see themselves as part of a victim class.
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