CNN transcript of Ron Christie defending racist cartoon

Let’s bring back that cartoon we showed you just before the break. It ran in “The New York Post” today. And it shows two police officers who have just shot a chimpanzee. And one of the police officers is saying, “They will have to find someone else to write the next stimulus bill.”

The paper says the cartoon is a parody of Washington politics that plays off the chimpanzee attack in Connecticut. Others see it as a clear racist portrayal of President Obama.

We have been talking about race and the comments made earlier today by Attorney General Eric Holder.

Let’s bring back David Gergen, Ron Christie, and Roland Martin.

David, what did you make of that cartoon? Does it make sense to you, what, “The New York Post,” their explanation of it is? GERGEN: No.

Are we having a full moon tonight? There seems to be — there seems to be such an odd series of things to talk about, you know, things that I find so odd.

That cartoon is dripping with racism. You know, and to say anything else is to put a gloss on it. But I think it’s just not credible.

I mean, we all know what the symbol of chimpanzees and baboons and that sort of thing have been used in the past, and unfairly, to smear people in the past. That is the history of racism in this country. And, you know, to resort to it now, it just seems to me — I don’t know what they’re thinking about. And I don’t know what the editors were.

COOPER: Ron, is there any other explanation to it for you?

CHRISTIE: I think there is. And here’s where I think I might disagree with my two colleagues on this subject.

As a proud black man, I don’t look at a chimpanzee as an African- American. I don’t look at it as a reflection of who I am and who African-Americans are in this country.

And frankly, if it’s supposed to be a portrayal of President Obama, the president didn’t write the stimulus bill. The bill was written by Speaker Pelosi in the House and by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.

For goodness sakes, we just had a chimpanzee who went nuts yesterday. The speaker of the House and the majority leader wrote the bill. The president didn’t write the bill. The president probably hasn’t had time to read the bill from the time sent to him in the White House until he signed it. So I don’t think this is an indictment of President Obama. Let’s just not try to find everything to be a racially insensitive matter.

Let’s realize also, Anderson, for goodness sakes, President Bush and Dick Cheney were caricatured. They had so many evil comments to say about them. And last but not least, when you had Senator Clinton, who is speaking on Martin Luther King’s birthday, and she said, “The House is run like a plantation — you know what I’m talking about,” and Al Sharpton was behind her. You didn’t hear this hue and cry from all the Democrats.

But now, all of a sudden, this is a racist attack against the president. It’s ridiculous.

MARTIN: Ron, can you not see the reality and the history in this now? Are you talking about — in terms of what was there. There was no chimpanzee with a sign underneath it that said “Congress” or said “Pelosi” or said “House Democrats.”

And so to sit here and to say that you can’t equate the two, we understand that there’s a history and a legacy. And we talk about caricatures of Bush and Reagan. We also understood the criticism of people who were — we encountered (ph) sexism with Hillary Clinton in the race. There’s a history there. There’s a legacy there. That’s the whole point.

CHRISTIE: Roland — Roland…

MARTIN: I run three newspapers. If a cartoonist came to me with that cartoon, I would say, “What is this? What is it that you’re trying to say? Do you understand what this means?”

CHRISTIE: Roland, to have a conversation and what did it mean when Senator Clinton stood in an African-American church and said that the House of Representatives being run like a plantation, and you know what I’m talking about…

MARTIN: And I’m one of the folks who criticized her.

CHRISTIE: Excuse me. I didn’t cut you off. For goodness sakes, Barack Obama did not write this bill. The speaker of the House wrote this bill.

MARTIN: First of all, President Obama.

CHRISTIE: The majority leader wrote this bill. And it’s just people who are looking to inject racism in an issue where I think it’s not there. I’m sorry.

COOPER: David…

CHRISTIE: I also read the comments of the cartoonist who said that was not his intent. Let’s give people the benefit of the doubt, as opposed to always finding racial problems in every situation.

GERGEN: But Ron — but Ron, I hope — do you agree that a lot of people would look at that and say chimpanzee, baboon, Obama, they’re trying to link all those together? Don’t you think — do you not think it’s open to that interpretation?

CHRISTIE: David, I think if you look at what happened with the chimpanzee who went berserk in Connecticut yesterday, that’s how I looked at it. That’s how I interpreted it. It was a very timely news event.

And Roland, you can laugh at me again. This is a great thing.

MARTIN: Because you’re delusional, Ron. That’s what it is.

CHRISTIE: Excuse me. I would not make any personal attack against you. So please don’t do the same for me.

I think we need to get together as a country and not look at racism behind every corner. For goodness sakes, the cartoonist said that that was not their intent. Let’s not always assume that there’s always something evil lurking behind every corner.

COOPER: Roland, I want to give you the final thought.

MARTIN: I don’t — I don’t find racism, Ron, in everything. But I’ll tell what you what. When I see it and I know it, I’m going to call it out. And the cartoonist can explain it away all he wants to. Well, look, people see it for what exactly it is. And that was a racist cartoon, pure and simple.

CHRISTIE: Everybody has got an opinion. But again, everybody’s got an opinion. Let’s not just jump to judgment.

MARTIN: OK