The Underlying Truth About The "Black Friend Defense"

Wednesday, while attempting to rebut Michael Cohen’s congressional testimony about Donald Trump’s racism, Rep. Mark Meadows, presented a black female employee of the Trump Organization as proof that Trump wasn’t racist.

Called out by multiple members of the congressional committee, Mark Meadows was reduced to near tears. He then claimed that his black nieces and nephews as well as his friendship with Rep. Elijah Cummings absolved him of accusations of racism.

Meadows' statement is the twenty-first century iteration of "some of my best friends are black"--a trite refutation of racial bigotry that has been decried, dissected, roundly mocked, and scornfully dismissed for decades. Even someone like Meadows, someone who continued to push the birther conspiracy long after President Obama released his long form birth certificate, should have realized how, well, corny, this statement was.