AWKWARD: Gayle King Follows Roger Bennett’s Emotionally Patriotic Segment By Asking About His ‘Tiny Child Penis’
Roger Bennett is the transcendent figure that the United States so sorely needs right now.
His new book, (Re)Born in the USA, is nothing less than a love letter to his chosen country, which he is promoting rather vigorously on a media tour. There was a bit of an awkwardly comedic moment, however, during a hit on CBS This Morning when Gayle King followed a really emotional segment by asking Bennett about his “tiny child penis.” That happened.
Some context: The Liverpool-born Men in Blazers co-host, and frequent contributor to Morning Joe, appeared on CBS This Morning to promote his new book, which details his great love of American culture and his recent journey of becoming a naturalized citizen of the United States.
His Tuesday morning appearance opened with a pre-taped and well-edited segment that featured Bennett reading lovely passages from his book while standing before the Statue of Liberty, where he sang the praises of American cultural icons that ranged from John Cougar Mellencamp to the Beastie Boys. It was a genuinely moving segment, particularly a week before Independence day at a time which the American political landscape is so bitterly divided.
Coming out of the segment, Bennett as genuinely moved to tears, or at least tear-stained eyes, which was brought up to him by Tony Dokoupil. “Quite a lot to watch that,” Bennett admitted through tears of joy, comparing it to the first half of Scarface in his signature razor-sharp cultural comparative manner.
But co-host Gayle King had other designs in how she opened the panel discussion that followed. “So beautiful,” she noted, before noting, “something that’s not so beautiful, you write on page 56 you were a late bloomer with a tiny child penis that looked like a ball spigot.” Bennett’s very graceful rejoinder gave her a pass — “Some things don’t change Gayle!”
Bennett’s response was clever, and King was surely trying to be funny, but it was super weird timing to ask a clearly emotional guest so emotional such a silly question.
What followed, however, was kind of a great discussion about Bennett’s love for America, in particular his experience of becoming a naturalized citizen.
“If you have stood in a courtroom, 162 people from 46 countries and you say the oath of allegiance, and you look left and right, you see people who have crawled through deserts, who’ve survived civil war, who have escaped turmoil driven by the idea of America, then you know that that idea of America in the world shines so bright, drives people, gives them incredible courage and joy,” Bennett said beautifully. “And that’s my message for you on Independence Day.”
The entire segment is a beautiful thing to watch, and I hope it helps Bennett sell a ton of books which is why I decided to put “tiny child penis” in the headline, ensuring that this video will be seen by exponentially more people than a simple love letter to America, because, that’s the way we live now. Buy the book!
Watch above via CBS.
