Danny Moloshok/Reuters
Comedian Dave Chappelle lashed out at Hillary Clinton and defended Donald Trump at a show in New York on Friday night. The show, a surprise gig at The Cutting Room, saw Chappelle devote nearly his entire 60-minute set to tearing into Clinton. Chappelle blamed the scandal surrounding Trump’s lewd remarks about women on Clinton. “What I heard on that tape was gross,” Chappelle said of the leaked 2005 tape featuring Trump’s “grab them by the pussy” remarks. “But the way I got to hear it was even more gross. You know that came directly from Hillary,” he said. Calling Clinton “not right,” the comedian went on to defend Trump against sexual assault allegations by echoing Trump’s argument that the media is out to get him. “Sexual assault? It wasn’t. He said, ‘And when you’re a star, they let you do it.’ That phrase implies consent. I just don’t like the way the media twisted that whole thing. Nobody questioned it,” he said. Describing Trump as “the most gangsta candidate ever,” Chappelle praised his handling of the media and resilience in the face of scandal. “They asked him how he knows the system is rigged and he said, ‘Because I take advantage of it.’ He may as well have flashed his membership card for the Illuminati right then.” Chappelle told the crowd he’d voted early in Ohio but “didn’t feel good” about voting for Clinton.