John Brennan ‘increasingly embarrassed to be a white male’

Former CIA Director John Brennan confessed to MSNBC‘s audience on Monday that these days he’s “increasingly embarrassed to be a white male.”

The racial self-flogging came during a segment on the Jan. 6 Capital riot and reporting on the death of Capitol Police officer Brian D. Sicknick by The New York Times.

“Deadline White House” host Nicolle Wallace teed up Mr. Brennan by saying reporter Katie Benner’s recent work “renders at best, hypocritical, at worst cynical and false, any notion that the Republicans care about the lives and safety of law enforcement.”

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“I must say, to Claire’s point, I’m increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days in light of what I see of my other white males saying,” Mr. Brennan said. “But it just shows that with very few exceptions like Mitt Romney, Liz Cheney, Adam Kinzinger, there are so few Republicans in Congress who value truth, honesty, and integrity.”

The comment came against a political backdrop in which Democrats and Republicans continue to spar over the cultural significance and blame assignment for January’s riot.

Ms. Benner’s piece added the indictments of six members of the nationalist group Proud Boys by the Justice Department on Friday into the national conversation. The suspects are “accused of threatening a federal officer and entering the Capitol carrying a deadly or dangerous weapon, including a wooden ax handle.”

“They’ll continue to gaslight the country the way that Donald Trump did,” Mr. Brennan said of Republican lawmakers who view the riot as being blown out of proportion. “And the fact that this has such security and safety implications for the American public, and for the members of Congress, again, as Claire [McCaskill] said, it is just a disgusting display of craven politics that really should have no place in the United State in 2021.” 

Former CIA Director John Brennan says “I’m increasingly embarrassed to be a white male these days,” which prompts MSNBC‘s Nicole Wallace to laugh pic.twitter.com/cbNS8oQ1eK

— Daniel Chaitin (@danielchaitin7) March 1, 2021