For years, comedian Dave Chappelle has made transphobic jokes a part of his brand, and for just as long, trans activists have been very vocal about strongly disliking those jokes. Through boycotts and public callouts over the years, Chappelle has doubled down.
In a recent interview with NPR, however, the comedian vocalized discomfort about the fact that some Republicans have taken his transphobic jokes seriously, and have even weaponized them on their earnest attempts at the erasure of trans identity.
In a clip from the aforementioned interview that’s been circulating widely on social media, he spoke about a visit to Capitol Hill, where conservative U.S. Representative Lauren Boebert asked Chappelle to take a picture with her. After he hesitantly obliged, Boebert reportedly went on to post the picture on socials with the caption, “Just two people that know that it’s just two genders.”
It appeared, at that moment, to get a little too real for Chappelle.
“You know, I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing... I lit her ass up for doing that,” he told NPR.
