Responding to Media Matters item, Quinn defended comparison of welfare recipients to slaves

Written by Hannah Dreier

Published

On The War Room, Jim Quinn addressed his prior comments comparing “slave[s] in the old South” to welfare recipients today. Quinn said: “Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point.” He later added: "[W]hen you think about it, the slave had more personal nobility than the welfare recipient, because he or she had no say in their station in life. The welfare recipient actually volunteers for it. It is the liberal plantation."

On the November 7 broadcast of The War Room, co-host Jim Quinn addressed comments he made on the previous day's broadcast -- documented by Media Matters for America -- comparing “slave[s] in the old South” to welfare recipients today, the “difference” being that "[t]he slave had to work for" the benefits Quinn said they received.

Quinn said of his November 6 comments, “Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point.” He later added:

QUINN: [W]hen you think about it, the slave had more personal nobility than the welfare recipient, because he or she had no say in their station in life. The welfare recipient actually volunteers for it. It is the liberal plantation.

Folks, you can get people to behave the way you want them to behave, but -- two ways: one is by oppression and the other is by pandering to them. And Democrats in the South, and throughout history, learned eventually that oppression didn't work, so pandering seems to be working quite well right now, and it will probably continue to work well into the future under this administration.

Quinn also stated in reference to his November 6 remarks: “But, you know, look, I would like to apologize for one thing. If I made you little babies think, then I apologize. If I woke you up from your little slumber there -- shhh, back to sleep. We'll rock you to sleep, and the dear leader will make everything OK for you, OK?”

Talkers Magazine lists Quinn & Rose on its "Heavy Hundred" list, which it describes as a list of the “100 most important radio talk show hosts in America.” According to the show's website, it airs on 18 radio stations and XM Satellite Radio.

From the November 7 broadcast of Clear Channel's The War Room with Quinn & Rose:

QUINN: Well, apparently, the folks at Media Matters are once again in high dudgeon. I knew that this morning when three emails poured in. At least they were succinct anyway: “You're an A-hole.” “You're an idiot.” And I forget what the other one said, although none of them could tell me why I was wrong. Apparently, they -- yesterday when I did the Frances Rice piece on why Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, I made an observation that rubbed some folks the wrong way.

QUINN [audio clip]: This is by Frances Rice. You can Google this in HumanEvents.com. Just Google “Frances Rice,” a black historian. Frances Rice says, “It should come as no surprise that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican. In that era, almost all black Americans were Republicans. Why? Well, from its founding in 1854 as the anti-slavery party until today, the Republican Party has championed freedom and civil rights for blacks.” Gee, you'd never know that walking through the hallways of a school today or listening to the media. “And as one pundit so succinctly stated, the Democratic Party is, as it always has been, the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation, and now, socialism.”

You know, I was thinking about this. You know, if you were a slave in the old South, what did you get as a slave? You got free room and board, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children because that was just, you know, tomorrow's slave. So, you got a free house, you got free money, and you got rewarded for having children. Can I ask a question? How's that different from welfare? You get a free house, you get free food, and you get rewarded for having children. Oh, wait a minute, hold on a second. There is a difference: The slave had to work for it.

AUDIO CLIP: Insensitivity. Insensitivity.

QUINN: Now, naturally, the point that I was making was that there are two forms of servitude: There's the servitude that you can be forced into, and there's the servitude you can be coerced into, I mean, the horrors of slavery notwithstanding -- naturally, that was my point, and I think you know that. But, you know, look, I would like to apologize for one thing. If I made you little babies think, then I apologize. If I woke you up from your little slumber there -- shhh, back to sleep. We'll rock you to sleep, and the dear leader will make everything OK for you, OK?

You know -- but when you think about it -- when you think about it, the slave had more personal nobility than the welfare recipient, because he or she had no say in their station in life. The welfare recipient actually volunteers for it. It is the liberal plantation.

Folks, you can get people to behave the way you want them to behave, but -- two ways: one is by oppression and the other is by pandering to them. And Democrats in the South, and throughout history, learned eventually that oppression didn't work, so pandering seems to be working quite well right now, and it will probably continue to work well into the future under this administration.