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The Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang insisted Sunday on the words of a new member of the cast of Saturday Night Live, who called it a "Jewish flaw" "should be taken in a slightly different light" .
"My call to forgive Shane Gillis has sparked a number of reactions," Yang told CNN's State of the Union. "I have experienced a lot of anti-Asian racism throughout my education and it hurts. It's something very real. I really think that anti-Asian racial epithets are not taken seriously as insults against other groups. "
But, echoing a series of tweetsThe technology entrepreneur added: "At the same time, a bigger picture: I think our country has become excessively punitive and vindictive in the face of what people find offensive or racist.
"We must try to go beyond, if we can, especially in case the person … [is] like a comedian whose lyrics must be interpreted in a slightly different light. "
Gillis was announced as a new member of the SNL cast this week, alongside Bowen Yang – a screenwriter in the series who is now her first member of the Asian cast – and Chloe Fineman.
Shortly after, a freelance journalist discovered images of Gillis making racist and homophobic statements, including offensive remarks about Asians, their culture and food, on the Matt and Shane's Secret podcast. A flood of similar images followed.
Gillis' comments about Yang have been reported for the first time by Vice. Gillis, 31, initially speaks of Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders on the Democratic presidential race on Luis J. Gomez's Real Ass Podcast.
"This Jew's fault?" Gillis says. "Commie Jew Puff? Next, please, next. Give me your next candidate, Dems. Jew chink, next. In fact, they have a fault for the Jews: Chang, dude.
He adds, "Yang or Chang?"
Until Sunday afternoon, NBC and Saturday Night Live had not commented.
Gillis issued a statement Thursday in which he declared that he was "a comedian who pushes the boundaries".
"I miss him sometimes," he said. "If you go through my 10 years of comedy, most of the time, bad, you'll find a lot of bad moves.I'm glad to apologize to anyone who is offended by all that I've said. It's never hurt anyone, but I try to be the best comedian that I can be and sometimes it entails risks. "
On Saturday, Yang tweeted: "For the record, I do not think he should lose his job. We would be better off being more indulgent than punitive. We are all human. "
On Sunday, CNN's host, Jake Tapper, also asked Yang questions about critics saying that some of his own comments about being Asian-American reinforce harmful stereotypes. During the debate in Houston this week, for example, the technology entrepreneur remarked, "I'm Asian, so I know a lot of doctors."
On CNN, he said, "The American community of Asian origin is very diverse and I certainly do not pretend that my individual experience would speak to the depth and depth of our community. At the same time, I think Americans are very intelligent and can understand this myth.
"On the contrary, by making fun of that, I make Americans think of them a little bit more."
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