Larry Wilmore isn’t exactly a huge fan of the GOP, but he was optimistic on Monday about one Republican’s reaction to the unrest in Baltimore: presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY).
“He spoke at Howard, he’s all about criminal justice reform, he’s probably on the midnight train to Baltimore right now,” the host of “The Nightly Show” said.
But then Wilmore played the audio of Paul’s remarks on Baltimore from last Tuesday, which have since landed the candidate in hot water.
“I came through the train on Baltimore (sic) last night, I’m glad the train didn’t stop,” Paul joked to conservative radio host Laura Ingraham. (Paul went on to blame the violence on “lack of fathers” and morals in Baltimore.)
Wilmore’s audience booed and groaned. “‘I’m glad the train didn’t stop?’ Well, how presidential!” Wilmore said.
“It reminds me of that famous Kennedy speech: Ask not what your country can do for you, ask, how can you avoid the most troubled parts of your country!” Wilmore said, sporting a Massachusetts accent.
“Particularly the darker parts,” he added.
Paul’s campaign has been doing damage-control since his remarks gained attention, Politico reported on Thursday:
“We recognize how it may have sounded to some people,” said Elroy Sailor, a senior adviser to Paul who has helped orchestrate more than two years of sustained outreach by Paul to the African-American community. “We’re listening and learning every day and we learned from this. We’re also leading this conversation.”
Watch the clip:
