The women on ABC's show "The View" criticized Coleman Hughes, a black CNN contributor, as a "fake expert" when he appeared on the show to talk about his new book promoting a "colorblind America." Hughes now claims Sunny Hostin, the co-host who led the attack, has not apologized.
Hughes' book, The End of Race Politics, argues against using race-based policies to end American racism.
Hughes explained that he believes social class and economics are better indicators of disadvantage, rather than race. He added:
We all want to help the disadvantaged, and the question is, ‘How do we identify them?’ Right? The default right now in a lot of areas of policy is to use, you know, black and Hispanic identity as a proxy for disadvantage, and my argument is that you actually get a better picture of who needs help by looking at socioeconomics and income that picks out people in a more accurate way.
After briefly summarizing his book, Hughes received applause from the audience. However, Hostin interrupted the clapping and dismissed his argument as "fundamentally flawed."
Hostin stated that she had read Hughes' book twice in an attempt to give it a fair chance. She insisted that race-based initiatives were necessary due to the significant disparity between white and black households.
In response, Hughes mentioned Martin Luther King Jr. and argued that focusing on class-based actions would disproportionately help black and Hispanic individuals because they are disproportionately poor.
Hostin countered by mentioning her connection to King's daughter, Bernice, and reiterated that Hughes' "premise is fundamentally flawed."
You claim that colorblindness was the goal of the civil rights movement based upon Dr. King’s ‘I Have A Dream’ speech — you know, content of character versus the color of skin. Bernice, Dr. King’s daughter, points out that four years after giving that speech, actually, Dr. King also said this: ‘A society that has done something special against the Negro for hundreds of years must now do something special for Negroes.’
Hostin then called Hughes a "fake expert" and a "pawn of the right," attributing the name-calling to unspecified individuals within "the black community."
"You've said that you're a conservative," Hostin added.
"No," Hughes politely corrected before addressing her point about the book and returning to Hostin's attacks.
"I don't think I've been influenced by anyone. I've only voted twice, both times for Democrats," Hughes said. "I'm an independent. I might vote for a compelling Republican, probably a non-Trump Republican."
"There's no evidence that I've been influenced by anyone," Hughes stated. "I host an independent podcast. I work for CNN as an analyst. I write for The Free Press. I am independent in all of these endeavors, and no one is paying me to say what I'm saying. I say it because I believe it."
Hughes discussed the exchange with an independent Substack journalist Matt Taibbi in a post published on Wednesday.
"Did [Hostin] apologize?" Taibbi inquired.
"No," Hughes responded.
Hughes also reflected on his appearance on Joe Rogan's podcast, where he called "The View" a "rabies-infested henhouse." called "I wasn't necessarily expecting her to try to ambush me in that way and attack my character," Hughes remarked. "I responded in the moment as I normally do. I didn't expect it to become as viral as it did, but it arguably gained more attention than anything I've done before."
Hughes's book,
