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Newsmax's Eric Bolling is confused by the letters of the alphabet, he says during a homophobic and transphobic rant over the Scooby-Doo character coming out
A news anchor who appears on national television daily says he can't tell the difference between the meanings of letters in the alphabet. At least that's the message Eric Bolling delivered in a bigoted segment on his Newsmax show, The Balance.
During a Wednesday segment, Bolling complained about the development that the Velma in the fictional television series Scooby-Doo has come out as a lesbian in the upcoming film remake of the decades-old series.
Media Matters for America senior researcher Jason Campbell posted a clip from the show to Twitter.
He wrote, "While throwing a tantrum about a cartoon character, Newsmax's Eric Bolling: "It always confuses me, by the way folks, when a man decides he's a woman - becomes a woman - then sleeps with women. I mean, why didn't you stay a man?"
\u201cWhile throwing a tantrum about a cartoon character, Newsmax's Eric Bolling: "It always confuses me, by the way folks, when a man decides he's a woman - becomes a woman - then sleeps with women. I mean, why didn't you stay a man?"\u201d— Jason Campbell (@Jason Campbell) 1665060292
"Our beloved Scooby Doo has gone woke. Velma has come out as LGBTQ. I'm guessing she's the L. But she may be the B. I don't know; perhaps the T, [which] would mean she's been a dude all along, all this time, right?" Bolling, amused with himself, riffs. " I'm not sure. Maybe it's the Q. Truth be told, I can't really tell the difference between most of the letters. It always confuses me, by the way, folks, when a man decides he's a woman, becomes a woman, and then sleeps with women. Why don't you just stay a man?"
He says he doesn't hate "liberals and lefties" but that he doesn't "fully understand the different categories. But you do you."
But the "you do you" sentiment only lasted until the next breath in which Bolling frames the in-vogue conservative argument that producers shouldn't represent matters of sexual identity in kids' cartoons.
In a singsongy voice, he wonders why "Velma is gay now" but reassures his bro-dudes in the audience that Daphne "she's still straight as far as we can see." And then, the adult man smacked his lips in a creepy display of toxic masculinity, homophobia, and misogyny all wrapped up in one person.
"Is Fred straight?" he asks before saying that if Velma is a lesbian, he could see Fred being gay.
A Saturday morning cartoon created by Hanna-Barbera Productions in 1969, Scooby-Doo has been reimagined numerous times in films, television shows, and comics. In the series, Scooby-Doo, a mischievous Great Dane, assists Velma, Daphne Blake, Fred Jones, and Norville "Shaggy" Rogers in solving crimes.
Despite previous writers and producers claiming Velma was a lesbian, studio officials refused to portray her as such. Audie Harrison's new film resolves any doubts.
