OUTRAGE

Cohen: Race Comments Misunderstood

“It’s a purposeful misreading of what I wrote.”

There’s something to be said for defending your words despite the entire Internet being against you. The Washington Post’s Richard Cohen said Wednesday that “it’s a slander” to suggest that he does not support interracial marriage. In Cohen’s column about New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie on Tuesday, he wrote that “people with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York—a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasio’s wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?)” Cohen insisted the offending statements were describing how he believes Tea Party Republicans feel, not how he himself feels. “This is just below the belt,” he said of the criticism. “It’s a purposeful misreading of what I wrote.”