Monday, May 5, 2008

Conan O'Brien Interviews Jeremiah Wright

Here's the video:





NBC removed the video, but the segment is available on O'Brien's NBC site for now. Go to "full episodes," April 30, 2008. It begins after the first commercial break, about 11 minutes into the program.

Transcript

O'BRIEN: Welcome Rev. Wright. Thank you for joining us tonight.

WRIGHT: Good evening, Conan. And G--damn you.

O'BRIEN: Rev. Wright, I haven't even said anything.

WRIGHT: Neither did I. What are you talkin' about?

O'BRIEN: You just said, 'G--damn you.'

WRIGHT: Now you're taking the whole thing outta context. That's not all I said.

O'BRIEN: OK, what else did you say?

WRIGHT: I said, 'Good evening, Conan. G--damn you.'

O'BRIEN: OK. OK, I see. You were just being polite.

WRIGHT: It was a greeting.

O'BRIEN: Yes, OK. Now what about this clip that everybody's been hearing where we hear you say, 'G--damn America.'

WRIGHT: I didn't just say that. What you're hearing is a sound bite, Conan, taken out of context so that the political analysts can simplify and distort the whole thing.

O'BRIEN: OK, well why don't you help us out? Go ahead and provide the whole context.

WRIGHT: Alright. What I said was: 'G--damn America. G--damn it to hell. Burn, baby, burn. O.J. was innocent.' Now do you see how it's different in the context, when you take the statement and don't break it down?

O'BRIEN: Yes, very different in the context. Yes. Thank you.

WRIGHT: Thank you. And G--damn you.

O'BRIEN: Reverend, supposedly you're a supporter of Barack Obama, but certainly you realize every time you speak in public all you're doing is hurting Barack's chances to win the White House.

WRIGHT: Hurting? Hurting Barack Hussein Obama? All I'm doing is helping Barack Hussein Obama. I'm defending my church so people aren't afraid of Barack Hussein bin Laden Obama. That's all I'm doing.

O'BRIEN: Wait a minute, just yesterday, you seemed to threaten Sen. Obama. You said, 'Come November the 5th, I'm comin' after you.'

WRIGHT: No, no, no, Conan. It's a sound bite, Conan. When are you gonna listen to the whole thing, the whole context?

O'BRIEN: Well, go ahead. Give us the context.

WRIGHT: What I said was: 'Come November the 5th, I'm coming after you. And I'm coming after your family. G--damn America. G--damn all the Americas.'

O'BRIEN: OK, I see the context now.

WRIGHT: I'm not finished: G--damn North America. G--damn South America, Miss America, Six Flags over Great America. G--damn American Idol, America's Got Talent, America's Next Top Model. G--damn America Ferrera, An American Tail: Fievel Goes West....

O'BRIEN: Wait a minute. What the hell are you talking about?

WRIGHT: Everyone knows Fievel Goes West is the worst in the whole series. G--damn Fievel Goes West.

O'BRIEN: Alright, alright.

WRIGHT: You see the context now, when it ain't broken down into teensy weensy sound bites. Do you see what I was trying to say?

O'BRIEN: Well, actually, no, I don't really see. So let's sum it up: You cursed America and you're going after Obama and his family.

WRIGHT: No way. I would never hurt Barack Saddam Hussein Obama, or his two daughters, or his two daughters Uday and Qusay.

O'BRIEN: Oh for God's sake, Rev wright! Now let's talk about some of the more controversial statetments.

WRIGHT: What controversial...?

O'BRIEN: You have claimed that the United States government created HIV to suppress the black community.

WRIGHT: Well, that's right. And even worse than that they, not only did they create HIV, the government also invented blackne.

O'BRIEN: Blackne? What's blackne?

WRIGHT: Yes, black acne. Come on, you know it's true. Don't you see?They invented blackne, and they used it to break up Kid 'n Play.

O'BRIEN: Oh for God's sakes.

WRIGHT: They're suppressing us. Ask yourself this: How come only white men have walked on the moon, even though a black man invented moonwalking? And Conan, the government's using their tricknology to confuse us. They made Lewis Black white and Barry White black.

O'BRIEN: OK, wait a minute. That's actually... that's good. That's true.

WRIGHT: That is true. And just this year, they saw that a black man had a good shot to become president, so they invented a crazy black preacher to ruin his chances.

O'BRIEN: OK. Are you by any chance talking about you?

WRIGHT: G--damn me. G--damn Jeremiah Wright.

No comments: