Samantha Bee: 'I crossed a line' in using vulgar term to describe Ivanka Trump
Comedian Samantha Bee has apologized for a vulgar epithet she used to describe the president's daughter, Ivanka Trump, saying she "crossed a line" earlier this week on an episode of her TBS show.
Bee, a former correspondent on The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, made the comment on the Wednesday edition of her "Full Frontal with Samantha Bee."
In a segment on how the government lost track of nearly 1,500 migrant children, who had entered the U.S. as unaccompanied minors, Bee lashed out at Ivanka Trump for posting a picture of her and her son on Twitter.
"You know, Ivanka, that's a beautiful photo of you and your child, but let me just say, one mother to another, 'Do something about your dad's immigration practices, you feckless ...," she said, using a vulgar term for the female anatomy.
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"Put on something tight and low-cut and tell your father to f---ing stop it," Bee said.
The remark elicited condemnation from the White House. Although President Trump has not personally responded, press secretary Sarah Sanders weighed in Thursday, describing the comedian's remarks as "vile and vicious," and saying executives at TBS and its corporate parent, Time Warner, "must demonstrate that such explicit profanity about female members of this administration will not be condoned."
Bee issued a tweet on Thursday apologizing for her use of the remarks.
"I would like to sincerely apologize to Ivanka Trump and to my viewers for using an expletive on my show to describe her last night. It was inappropriate and inexcusable. I crossed a line, and I deeply regret it," Bee wrote.
In a separate statement, TBS wrote, "Samantha Bee has taken the right action in apologizing for the vile and inappropriate language she used about Ivanka Trump last night. Those words should not have been aired. It was our mistake too, and we regret it."
Bee's comments have drawn inevitable comparisons to the racist tweet issued earlier this week by actor Roseanne Barr that caused ABC to cancel the reboot of her eponymous television show.
Some conservative commentators have demanded that "Full Frontal" also be canceled and at least two advertisers on her show, Autotrader and State Farm, have indicated they will pull their ads from the show.