Yes, Anthony Weiner, like every other politician in the country, attends events where he can get exposure and have people see him as just a “regular guy.” In this case, the event was New York City’s annual West Indian Day Parade yesterday. But unlike many other events, this one had a DJ playing a song that calls for the murder of gay people. And Weiner, as you can see in the second video, below, is dancing on a float to the song, totally oblivious to the lyrics.
“Weiner boogied atop the confetti-covered float and called out to paradegoers in a fake Caribbean accent,” the NY Daily News reports:
“Anybody here from Jamaica? Anybody here from Barbados? Anybody here from Guyana?” he called, island-style. Then he gave it up: “Anybody here from Staten Island?”
//www.youtube.com/embed/5XXLD7yQX84
While it looks like Wiener, who is running for mayor of New York City, was totally being played by the DJ we assume his campaign hired for his Weiner for Mayor campaign float, the fact remains that the song’s lyrics are beyond the pale.
“It’s not Weiner calling out to people in a bad accent and dancing that’s absurd so much as the soundtrack—dancehall artist Capleton’s ‘Bumbo Red,'” the website Complex reports:
A sampling lyrics of “Bubo Red”:
“Lick a shot inna a battyman head!
Lick a shot inna a lesbian head!
All sodomite dem fi dead,
All lesbian dem fi dead.”In the event you didn’t know or can’t tell, “battyman” is a derogatory slang term for homosexuals. And one of Weiner’s opponents, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn—who was in the parade, atop the float of Brooklyn borough president Marty Markowitz—is very publicly and proudly gay.
//www.youtube.com/embed/RL3KE9loxJQ
And, Complex reports the Weiner campaign’s response:
Weiner’s spokesperson, Babara Morgan, responded via email: “Obviously Anthony can’t be expected to know the all the lyrics of songs played by a dj at a parade, however he strongly condemns homophobic songs and intolerant singers.” She didn’t answer any of our questions about who the DJ was (and if they were hired by the Weiner campaign).
Should it even be legal to play songs that call for the murder of anyone at a public event?
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Hat tip: Joe.My.God. and Andrés Duque