Yahoo Finance Conservative Newsmax host Greg Kelly is being investigated over racist tweets
Newsmax host Greg Kelly has come under fire for racist tweets he posted over the weekend, leading to an investigation from his conservative news organisation.
On Sunday, Mr Kelly shared several racist tweets before they were deleted. But The Washington Post reported on several of the tweets before the host had a chance to delete them.
The tweet read: “Military life had its Perks, but it was also a major pain. I will tell you what took ‘the sting out of it’ – that when I was flying around the Pacific Ocean off of ships, I knew there was a Secretary of Defense who was white, just like me! Made a big difference with ‘morale.’”
Another tweet stated that knowing President Bill Clinton was in office as a “Caucasian male” during a specific time made it all “worthwhile”.
“So that’s the USS America aircraft carrier that I’m ‘fixin’ to land on,” Mr Kelly reportedly wrote. “Just knowing that President Clinton, who was in office at the time, was a Caucasian male made it ‘all worthwhile’ – ask any white male officer who served under him. So appreciative of his Race were we.”
Then a third tweet posted by Mr Kelly showed a picture comparing himself to former Secretary of Defense Les Aspin.
“I mean, just look at this guy LES ASPIN. Since we’re both WHITE we OBVIOUSLY LOOK so much ALIKE, which Means we had So much in common. All the other ‘white Marines’ agreed with me,” he tweeted.
Greg Kelly appears to have deleted the tweets in question, including this one as well. pic.twitter.com/ReX9Ki9p1p
— Jeremy Barr (@jeremymbarr) June 14, 2021
In an attempt to backtrack the tweets, Mr Kelly wrote a follow-up post.
“Now the TRUTH: being a MARINE had nothing to do with RACE. It didn’t matter. It wasn’t ’a thing’—the EXPERIENCE brought us together, no matter what we were,” he said before appearing to make the “I have a Black friend” claim by bringing up his relationship with former New York City Mayor David Dinkins.
“The late Mayor David Dinkins, a WWII Marine, and hence, my brother. Below in 1991, and officiating my wedding in 2017,” he said.
Newsmax released a statement on Monday about the tweets saying there would be an investigation.
“We understand a series of tweets were posted by Mr Kelly that, in their totality, indicated his opposition to racism. We at Newsmax never countenance the posting of racist views or views that appeal to racists. We are currently reviewing the matter,” said Newsmax spokesperson Brian Peterson.
The backlash should come as no surprise to Mr Kelly, who previously said during his podcast that sometimes his statements on Twitter get him into trouble with the public.
“Twitter actually, quite frankly, sometimes brings out the worst in me. And that’s another — that’s another conversation,” he said during a January episode.
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