Radio Host Speaks Out on Kamala Harris Tweet That Got Her Fired for Being ‘Racist’: ‘That Was Actually the Pared-Down Version’
The Spectator Washington editor and former WMAL radio host Amber Athey spoke out about the reason for her firing: a tweet about Vice President Kamala Harris that the station says was “racist,” but which Athey says was “pared down” before she even sent it.
Athey revealed for the first time Monday that she was fired a month ago because of a tweet she sent during President Joe Biden’s State of the Union address.
“Kamala looks like a UPS employee — what can brown do for you? Nothing good, apparently,” Athey wrote.
The tweet referenced an old UPS slogan — “What can brown do for you” — and Harris’ brown suit.
Kamala looks like a UPS employee — what can brown do for you? Nothing good, apparently.
— Amber Athey (@amber_athey) March 2, 2022
Athey says the station told her the tweet was “racist” — a charge that Athey denies — and fired her:
They told me that the tweet I sent about Kamala was “racist” and that subsequent follow-ups defending myself and making fun of the efforts to cancel me were unacceptable. I had violated the company’s social media policy, they said, and I was terminated effective immediately.
They did not have the courtesy to offer me an opportunity to defend myself, nor did they speak to anyone at the program before handing down their decision.
Despite multiple appeals, during which company officials admitted that the perception of racism was more important than whether or not my tweet was actually racist, the company has refused to reverse its decision.
Those less charitably inclined toward Athey may have interpreted her tweet as carrying a double meaning that used the UPS slogan as a way to mock or denigrate the first Black woman and first person of Indian descent to hold the office of vice president.
Athey was a guest on Monday’s edition of the Timcast IRL podcast, during which she discussed the firing with host Tim Pool throughout the episode.
As they were teasing the story for later in the broadcast, Athey revealed that the tweet in question was originally less tame than the one she ended up sending:
ATHEY: I did make a joke. Never a good idea on Twitter, apparently.
POOL: They were looking for something they. Yeah, you made it. You made an offensive joke about Kamala Harris.
ATHEY: I did. Yeah, and used an old slogan that apparently no one knows anymore.
POOL: I’m sure everyone’s like, I’m trying to tread carefully over, you know, so we can save some of the story. But I’m sure everyone’s like, Whoa, what did she say? Was it really that bad?
ATHEY: Like, Oh my God, she said something really racist. Didn’t she?
POOL: No, considering this, the era that we’re in, it was like, totally not racist.
ATHEY: Yeah. And you know, what’s funny is looking back on it. I was at a trivia night with my friends when I sent the tweet that got me fired, and I remember going around the table asking about the initial tweet that I was going to send, if it was safe. And everyone was like, “Oh, like, it’s a little edgy. Maybe you should dial it down a little bit.” So this was actually the pared-down version of the tweet. And that still was too far for
POOL: So you’re saying you’re even more racist than they accuse you of. Right.
ATHEY: So I’m now digging myself even deeper into the racism hole.
Later in the podcast, Athey discussed the firing at greater length, denying her tweets were racist and claiming the radio station had “discredited” itself by firing her. She and Pool then compared the vice president’s jacket to excrement, and reenacted her tweet on air.
When Athey was a White House correspondent for The Daily Caller, she apologized for resurfaced tweets in which she used slurs that included the n-word, and in which she made anti-Semitic jokes.
Watch above via Timcast IRL, and watch the entire interview here.
