CNN host is accused of making ‘racist’ remark to 12-year-old Spelling Bee Champion
A CNN anchor has caused massive outrage after she made a statement considered racist by most.
Alisyn Camerota had made the remark while interviewing 12-year-old Ananya Vinay who is the latest Scripps Spelling Bee Champion.
During the interview, Ananya, who is of Indian origin, was asked by a second host, Chris Cuomo, to spell “covfefe” – the meaningless word that became popular after Donald Trump mistakenly tweeted it. The girl spelled it as “cofefe”.
“Thank you very much. That’s the only good answer we’ve heard about that word in days,” Chris Cuomo said.
Alisyn Camerota now replied:
“It was really COVFEFE but, again, it’s a nonsense word so we’re not sure that its root is actually in Sanskrit, which is what you’re probably used to using. “
A number of people feel Alisyn’s remark was a jab at Ananya’s origin and as such degrading because it meant she was not used to English.
Ananya, though of Indian origin, was born and raised in Fresno, California and had just been named the 2017 champion the previous evening. She is the 13th overall Indian-American child to win the competition. Since 2008, an Indian-American child has won the competition every single year.
Ananya beat nearly 11 million children to emerge champion of the competition and was called “unflappable” by ESPN commentators because of how well she comported herself throughout the rounds of competition.
