This Is the Funniest Possible Commentary on J6
Vince Staples is busy promoting the second season of The Vince Staples Show, out now on Netflix. This means that the actor, rapper, showrunner, and creative is out there—including on Ziwe’s eponymous interview show. That conversation aired on December 8, and included a lot of the standard bait-and-trap Ziwe fare. Staples, himself well versed on giving shock-factor sound bites, caused Ziwe to break or simply go silent with his inflammatory answers.
There was no better example of this than when Ziwe asked Staples: “On your show, you said when tragedy strikes, black people start stealing. What were you doing on January 6th, 2021?”
Don't Miss
After a little back and forth, it is determined that Staples was on tour, watching the infamous Capitol Riots on his tour bus.
“We were watching on the bus. It was amazing,” Staples recalled.
“Amazing,” Ziwe responded dubiously.
“Yeah, it was amazing.”
“What was amazing about it?” Ziwe asked.
This is where Staples goes into a truly original interpretation of the moment when thousands of Donald Trump’s supporters invaded federal buildings in order to prevent Joe Biden from becoming president in 2021. The entire event was called a national shame, and most people don’t have very light or humorous commentary on the incident. Most assessments hinge on the alleged morality of the people involved, and whether or not Donald Trump was responsible for inciting the crowd.
Staples didn’t focus on any of those factors, however. Much like the memes that circulated afterwards, Staples focused on the way the Capitol invaders looked. For those who don’t have perfect recollection, there were a lot of untrimmed beards, fur hats, missing teeth, and questionable sartorial decisions.
“I want us to do that…And we would do better because they were just ugly. Like the problem with Revolution is that it will be photographed,” Staples explained. “So sloppy loose t-shirts… Nobody got a pump. Nobody drank their cayenne and their lemon. It's just not beautiful.”
Ziwe sat in relative stunned silence while Vince Staples continued to explain why the lack of aesthetic prowess of the January 6 insurrectionists really negatively impacted their overall effectiveness.
“So you're fighting the government and you look like shit,” Staples said. “So when you die, it's for nothing. Did you see the lady that got shot? Disgusting wardrobe.”
“And our January 6 would differ because we'd be looking…?” Ziwe asked, trying but failing to wrestle back the upperhand from her far more brazen interviewee.
“Meg Gala. Amazing. Wales Bonner everywhere,” Staples concluded.
It is undeniably hilarious to ignore all of the moral and political questions surrounding January 6 and simply call the people who did it ugly. It also simplifies a lot of things. People can argue about whether chasing down the political enemies of your favored candidate is treason or patriotism, but it is harder to argue against the most classic insult of all time: “You’re ugly.”
