This pandemic has been rough, but thankfully, I have people who frequently check in on my psychological and emotional well-being. (Hopefully, you do as well.)
So when they ask how I’m doing, I’ll often respond, “Between rampant infections, economic collapse and other challenges, there are plenty of people out there who are facing much more difficult situations than I am. So I’m just trying to stay positive and grateful for my health and safety.”
One of those people I was apparently referring to is New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who, when he’s not preoccupied with sabotaging Sam Darnold’s career, moonlights as Trump’s ambassador to the United Kingdom.
In being equally atrocious at both jobs, CNN reports that the same guy who once thought signing Tim Tebow was a good idea was investigated by a state department watchdog for allegedly making racist and sexist comments to staff. He also allegedly followed Rule No. 47 in The Official Trump Administration Handbook and attempted to use his position as a government official to improve 45’s business interests in the UK.
Basically, this guy really ain’t shit.
From CNN:
In 2018, ahead of an event for Black History Month—commonly marked at US embassies around the world—Johnson appeared agitated and asked if the audience would be “a whole bunch of Black people,” according to one source.
Three sources said Johnson questioned why the Black community would want a separate month to celebrate Black history and argued that Black fathers didn’t remain with their families and that was the “real challenge.” One source said an official who heard the remarks was “stunned” and that the incident was documented and made known to both the OIG inspectors and a supervisor.
And as far as Johnson being sexist, he made it a point to host official meetings at an exclusive, men’s-only club in London called White’s—the irony is not lost on me—wherein the embassy’s female diplomats were unable to attend. He also suggested that he preferred working with women “because they were cheaper and worked harder than men,” openly quipped about how many attractive women were present or how women in the embassy were dressed at any given event, and wanted no parts of celebrating International Women’s Day because it’s “a feminist event.”
Oh, and there are these gems:
A team at the embassy tried to get Johnson to do an event around gender-based violence in November 2017, this source said, to which the ambassador replied that he was not interested because he’s “not a woman.”
Speaking at a reception a few days after an event on breast cancer research the embassy held in collaboration with Estee Lauder in October 2017, Johnson opened his remarks by saying, “There was a prettier crowd here a few days ago with the ladies in pink and the breast cancer people,” according to that source.
If I didn’t know better, I’d swear that Trump was Johnson’s ventriloquist.
As to be expected, the White House declined to comment on any of this, so Johnson has taken to Twitter to speak out in his own defense.
“I have followed the ethical rules and requirements of my office at all times,” he tweeted. “These false claims of insensitive remarks about race and gender are totally inconsistent with my longstanding record and values.”
He’s not the only person who’s taken to Twitter, however. Upon catching wind of these allegations, Jets safety Jamal Adams, who’s been embroiled in his own war with the team over a new contract, aired the 73-year-old out.
“We need the RIGHT people at the top,” he tweeted. “Wrong is wrong!”
No word on how this will all play out, considering Johnson’s boss is the biggest racist/sexist on planet Earth, but if the NFL is serious about its racial reckoning, now would be the opportune time to prove it.