Glenn Greenwald: Why Did ABC Ignore Roseanne Barr's Hateful Tweets Against Arabs and Palestinians?

"I think that we need to formulate consistent principles about what our views are, but in Roseanne's case, it was so far over the line of anything decent that I don't think anyone would think that ABC could do anything but fire her." (Photo: Screengrab)

Glenn Greenwald: Why Did ABC Ignore Roseanne Barr's Hateful Tweets Against Arabs and Palestinians?

"There is no question at all that what she tweeted is completely in line and perfectly consistent with what she has been saying and writing and tweeting for many years."

On Tuesday ABC canceled its hit show "Roseanne", after its star, Roseanne Barr, fired off a series of racist comments on Twitter. In one tweet, Roseanne wrote, "muslim brotherhood & planet of the apes had a baby=vj." It was a reference to Valerie Jarrett, longtime adviser to President Obama, who's African-American. Roseanne also accused billionaire George Soros, who's Jewish, of being a Nazi collaborator and attacked Chelsea Clinton. The decision to cancel Roseanne was made by Channing Dungey, the first African-American president of a major TV network. The reboot of the hit 1980s sitcom Roseanne last year drew huge audiences and praise from President Trump, who once called Roseanne Barr to congratulate her on the show's success. Democracy Now! spoke with Glenn Greenwald in Rio de Janeiro.

"This is stuff that she has been saying about lots of different groups, including African Americans, but especially Arabs and Palestinians, for a long time. It's just that Arabs and Palestinians, racism towards them tends to be more acceptable," said Greenwald.

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