After Alabama Senator Jeff Sessions was spotted with his Asian-American granddaughter while waiting to testify at his Tuesday confirmation hearing, MTV culture writer Ira Madison III joked that Sessions had stolen her from a Toys ‘R Us.
UPDATE (11:30 AM ET): The tweet has since been deleted.
Madison received blowback from the left and right alike, but stuck to his guns, arguing that Sessions’ granddaughter was being used as a prop, and tying Sessions’ stance on immigration to the exclusionary snti-Asian immigration policies of the 1880’s.
Still, the pushback continued.
[Image via screengrab]
UPDATE: 11:55 pm EST: A spokesperson for MTV has put out response to Madison’s tweet, saying “the opinions Ira expresses on Twitter are his own and do not reflect the views of MTV News.”
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