ROUND ONE
Boner Candidate #1: HE KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK
Krist Novoselic has posted a lengthy message in support of US President Donald Trump‘s recent statement regarding the ongoing protests that have followed George Floyd’s death. Trump said in a widely-condemned press conference earlier this week (June 1) that he would be mobilising the US military to be deployed against protesters, declaring himself a “law and order President”. The former Nirvana bassist, writing on his personal Facebook page which has since been set private, expressed vocal support for Trump’s comments. “Wow!!! I know many of you can’t stand him, however, Trump knocked it out of the park with this speech,” Novoselic wrote. “Social media and television are looping images of societal breakdown. I agree, the president should not be sending troops into states – and he legally might not be able to anyway – nevertheless, his tone in this speech is strong and direct.”
Boner Candidate #2: WHITE PRIVILEGE ISN’T REAL CAUSE I MADE IT SO
Conservative personality Rush Limbaugh said he was “sickened” by George Floyd’s death but that he doesn’t believe white privilege exists in a conversation on “The Breakfast Club,” a popular nationally syndicated radio program. The nearly 30-minute back-and-forth, which also aired on “The Rush Limbaugh Show,” began with Limbaugh describing what happened to George Floyd — the black Minneapolis man whose death in police custody last week ignited global protests — as “senseless.” “What happened to George Floyd sickened me, and I wanted to reach out to you and tell you all this. I want to make sure you have no doubt and I’m not the only American who feels this way — the senselessness of it,” Limbaugh, 69, said on Monday’s show. Charlamagne tha God, one of the show’s co-hosts, responded with asking Limbaugh how he would then use his privilege to fight injustice. “RIP to George Floyd but that was not an isolated incident, this is a regular occurrence,” he said. “How are you going to use your privilege as a white male to combat this prejudice?” But Limbaugh replied that he “doesn’t buy into the notion of white privilege.”
Boner Candidate #3: THE NAME HAS TO GO
The Republican National Committee chairwoman and niece of Senator-elect Mitt Romney spent years using her maiden name in her social media accounts and professional biographies, going by Ronna Romney McDaniel. But she dropped the “Romney” last year during her uncle’s Senate run — at President Trump’s request, The Washington Post reports. A former presidential candidate himself, Romney heavily criticized Trump’s 2016 run and attacked him again in an op-ed published Tuesday. Trump returned the blow in a Wednesday tweet, and McDaniel definitively sided with Trump in a scorching tweet of her own. The family spat promptly brought up some reminiscing about when McDaniel went by a slightly longer name. The Romney drop came just after McDaniel replaced Reince Priebus as RNC chair in early 2017, and it wasn’t just because “Ronna Romney” is a bit of a tongue twister. Trump asked McDaniel to drop her maiden name after subtly opposing his Senate run, the Post reports. And if McDaniel’s Twitter feed and the official RNC website are any indication, Trump’s request worked.
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ROUND TWO
Boner Candidate #1: EVERYONE MATTERS…EVERY SINGLE ONE.
Sacramento Kings announcer Grant Napear has “parted ways” with KHTK after tweeting “ALL LIVES MATTER” at DeMarcus Cousins on Monday night, the station announced in a statement. In a separate statement, the Kings announced that Napear had resigned from the team. Previously, the Sacramento Bee reported that Napear was placed on administrative leave. “Grant’s recent Twitter comments do not reflect our organization’s views and values,” the Kings wrote in a statement. “We are reviewing the matter further with our broadcast partners NBC Sports California and Sports 1140 KHTK.” The trouble for Napear started when former Kings star center DeMarcus Cousins, who Napear has strongly criticized, prompted Napear to offer his thoughts on the “Black Lives Matter” movement. “@GrantNapearshow what’s your take on BLM?,” Cousins tweeted. Napear was happy to take the bait. “Hey!!!!,” Napear wrote in response. “How are you? Thought you forgot about me. Haven’t heard from you in years. ALL LIVES MATTER…EVERY SINGLE ONE!!!” A number of former Kings, including Matt Barnes, responded to Napear’s tweet.
Boner Candidate #2: NO THAT’S NOT HOW YOU SAY IT
Spandau Ballet front man and 1980s icon Tony Hadley has stepped in to solve a bizarre controversy erupting in Singapore, earning a man a cash prize by clarifying exactly how the star’s surname is pronounced. The “Gold” singer was relaxing at his home in Buckinghamshire, England during the lockdown this week when he discovered he was the subject of a weeks-long furor thousands of miles away. The uproar centered on a national radio station, which had asked listeners to identify 14 celebrities just by their voices in order to win a cash prize. Muhammad Shalehan called in to Gold 905 on April 21 to offer his answer, and got every one correct — but the station felt he had mispronounced Hadley’s name and decided not to award the railway worker the 10,000 Singapore dollars ($7,030) reward. Weeks later, another caller gave the same list of answers and was crowned a winner — prompting an outcry in Singapore that rumbled on for weeks.
Boner Candidate #3: OH YOU THOUGHT THAT WAS A GOOD IDEA TO POST?
Two incoming Missouri college students who participated in a video that appeared to mock the killing of George Floyd have withdrawn. The students were supposed to attend the University of Missouri and Missouri State University in the fall before taking part in a video on social media in which they appear to be simulating the choking of one another. One student is heard saying “I can’t breathe.” The University of Missouri, which was rocked by racial protests in 2015, promptly began a civil rights investigation, leading one of the students to rescinded her enrollment, the Columbia Daily Tribune reports. “Given the similarity to the recent death of George Floyd in Minneapolis, the video is both shocking and disturbing,” wrote Mun Choi, president of the University of Missouri System and interim chancellor of MU, in an email to the campus community. Choi wrote that he has begun meeting with members of Legion of Black Collegians and Missouri Students Association. Black students and alumni at MU have taken to Twitter using the hashtag #BlackatMizzou to write about their negative experiences of being black on campus. “University leaders and I remain committed to combating discrimination and racism in all its forms,” Choi wrote.
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