Activism, Uncensored: Christopher Columbus and Stephen Colbert

An old tweet spurs a defense of Christopher Columbus and debate over Mamdani policy proposals; outraged Colbert supporters protest his firing and Trump

From Managing Editor Greg Collard:

A little-noticed June 2020 tweet resurfaced this month in which Zohran Mamdani is flipping off a statue of Christopher Columbus. The caption reads: “Take it down.” The most notable thing to me was Mamdani flipping the bird with a plastic glove, presumably to protect himself from Covid. On brand, I thought.

The tweet, however, received a lot of news coverage, and on Monday it was a hook for a protest where it was noted that Columbus is a “symbol of Italian-American pride and ancestry,” but Ford Fischer of News2Share also shows it was about more than saving a Columbus statue. It was about Mamdani’s policies if he ends up mayor of New York City.

The dialogue between protesters and counter-protesters is entertaining. My favorite is the counter-protester yelling:

“You mix your meats! You mix meats in your meatballs! You put raisins in your meatballs!”

Fightin’ words for sure.

Ford then pivoted to the Ed Sullivan Theatre, where there was a protest of CBS’ decision to ax Stephen Colbert and The Late Show next year. One speaker—wearing a miniature Ben and Jerry’s ice cream container as a hat—holds up a copy of 1984 and declares it’s time to speak up or “this [1984] will become our reality.”