LAURA INGRAHAM (HOST): Stacey Abrams was on Morning Joe, and she's claiming now that people dismiss her for one reason.
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INGRAHAM: Who has to say “I'm very smart”?
RAYMOND ARROYO: I always --
INGRAHAM: Who has to say that?
ARROYO: I always get a little -- I always question people who are always talking about how, “Let me tell you how accomplished I -- Look, I'm an accomplished, strong man. I have real innovations that” --
INGRAHAM: Who's talking about your sturdy build? Who's talking about it? Nobody's talking about it.
ARROYO: But it's all about them.
INGRAHAM: It is, it's about them.
ARROYO: It's not about the voter.
INGRAHAM: It's not about the issues, it's about “Look at me, this is me, my truth” -- it's that same thing with “my truth.” It's a -- well, a kind of -- It's a -- you know, it's an attempt at coming across as confident, but underneath that is an insecurity, in my view. So, you -- “Look at me, you must look at me, look at me, look at what I look like,” and I'm like “Okay, I'm looking at you.” No one's -- no one's talking about what you --
ARROYO: We can't miss you. We can't miss you, It's okay.
INGRAHAM: -- We can't miss anyone, we don't care.
ARROYO: You're a human being, we see you. Now what?
INGRAHAM: Now what? Tell me what your ideas are.
ARROYO: But see, it is this -- it is a special status that is expected --
INGRAHAM: Yeah.
ARROYO: See, that's entitlement.
INGRAHAM: That's entitlement. That's an entitlement mentality.
ARROYO: Entitlement is me thinking, you know, as Wilton Gregory said today, who's the new archbishop of Washington --
INGRAHAM: Nightmare.
ARROYO: He said entitlement is when you drive up to an event and you're upset because they don't have a reserved parking spot for you. I've never experienced that entitlement, but I guess he has. It's this notion that you're entitled to things not based upon anything you've done --
INGRAHAM: And on your merit --
ARROYO: -- but merit is incidental. You walk in the door, and you are entitled to things, simply because of the way you look. That is not, I think, where America wants to be.
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It leads to an entitlement, if you believe “Well, because I look this way, beautiful, ugly, fat, white, black, red, pink, that somehow you must respond to me in a particular way, and if you don't, then I can come after you, or call you out in public.” That's ridiculous -- it's a ridiculous way of living.
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INGRAHAM: It also speaks to a level of insecurity, I think, when you have to lead with that “Look at me.”
ARROYO: Right.
INGRAHAM: “I'm a -- I'm a black woman with a sturdy build” -- I literally don't think anyone I know even cares about that, at all.
