Dave Chappelle Says Republicans Twisted His Trans Jokes

The late great comedian Patrice O’Neal once famously argued that a comedian’s job is to try to make light out of anything they can. That in the world of “funny” everything is at the comedian’s disposal. 

So when Dave Chappelle makes jokes about the transgender community, he’s well within his rights, O’neal might argue, because his job is to be funny. 

But the funny parts stop when people twist the comedian’s words to have them do something they were never intended to.

In an interview with NPR this week, Chappelle noted that he was annoyed to learn that the Republican Party began weaponizing his jokes about the transgender community to make statements that he didn’t believe in.

“I did resent that the Republican Party ran on transgender jokes,” he said. “I felt like they were doing a weaponized version of what I was doing. That’s not what I was doing.”

Chappelle pointed out that in 2023 visit to Washington, D.C., he was roaming the halls of Congress when several congress members began asking for photos. Chappelle added that he’d taken some 40 photos and never once asked fans what their political stance was. Rep. Lauren Boeber (R-Colo.) and Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Fla.) asked him for a photo. 

Boebert later shared the image on X, writing: “Just three people who understand that there’s only two genders.”

Chappelle was annoyed to learn that he’d been used for a political opportunity to bash the trans community. Chappelle added: “I got to the arena, and I lit her ass up for doing that. And she should never do that to a person like me.”

Chappelle has long made jokes about the LGBTQ+ community and in recent years has come under fire for comedy aimed at the trans community. 

“In 2021, Netflix employees staged a walkout of the company’s Los Angeles offices following the release of “The Closer,” one of Chappelle’s comedy specials on the streaming platform, which included jokes about trans people,” HuffPost notes.

Chappelle has explained that he’s not transphobic. . 

“Do I discriminate against somebody because they’re trans? I would like to think absolutely not,” he told The Washington Blade in 2017. “I’m not an obstructionist of anybody’s lifestyle, as long as it doesn’t hurt me or people I love and I don’t believe that lifestyle does.”

See social media’s reaction to the Chappelle comments below.