Indian American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and Hindu Congressman Tulsi Gabbard lash out at the anchors for playing into stereotypes

WASHINGTON (TIP): Alisyn Camerota, host of CNN’s New Day, made a racially insensitive remark to a 12-year-old guest who had just won a national spelling bee while interviewing her on-air on Friday.

Camerota was interviewing Ananya Vinay, a young girl of Indian origin, about her recent win Thursday at the Scripps National Spelling Bee competition, one of the most recognized spelling competitions in the U.S. Camerota and her co-host Chris Cuomo jokingly asked her to spell the word “covfefe.”

“Covfefe” is the unintentional typo made by President Donald Trump during an unfinished tweet that was accidentally published on Twitter. The word had become an internet meme since then, spawning a seemingly endless amount of jokes, including one from Trump himself.

Vinay attempted to spell the word, but left out the “v.” Camerota corrected her, calling it a “nonsense word,” then remarked to Vinay about not being sure if the root of the word comes from Sanskrit, “which is probably what you’re used to using.”

Indian-American Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi and HinduCongressman Tulsi Gabbard lashed out at the anchors for playing into stereotypes.

“It’s disappointing that a segment which should have honored the accomplishments of Vinay instead other-ised her and the Indian-American community by playing into stereotypes,” Indian American Congressman from Illinois Krishnamoorthi said.

“The hosts’ treatment of Sanskrit is also insensitive to the language’s rich, ongoing sacred tradition and continues a troubling trend in the network’s treatment of Hinduism which was also evident on the network’s program, Believer,” Krishnamoorthi said.

This is “Further evidence of the need for America in general, and CNN in particular, to get educated about Hinduism and India,” said Tulsi Gabbard, the Hindu Congresswoman from Hawaii.

Added to CNN slur was a comment by Roxanne Vaughan, a professor of biomedical sciences at the University of North Dakota, reportedly “under fire” over a misinterpreted Facebook comment about Ananya Vinay. Professor has since clarified his comment about Indian American Spelling Bee Winner and apologized.

The Grand Forks Herald and WDAZ-ABC reported this week that Vaughan wrote of Vinay, who is of Indian descent, “I’m sure she’s an immigrant, not worthy of interacting with our pure Americans. Send her back.”

A campus spokesperson reportedly said Vaughan’s comment was “certainly not in keeping with university statement core values,” adding, “We know we have work to do in that area and this underscores the fact that we have a lot of work to do.” Vaughan said via email Tuesday that her remark — as many might suspect — was posted sarcastically, in response to current political rhetoric surrounding immigration. She attempted to clarify her point after someone misunderstood and removed the post within five minutes to avoid further confusion, she added.

“I was led to make a remark on my Facebook page that I phrased as sarcasm to convey my belief that our society is strengthened by the presence of diverse cultures and that exclusion of any group robs us of these benefits,” Vaughan said.

“I sincerely regret that I wrote this comment in a way that could be misinterpreted, and that it may have caused any pain or fear to [students], who above all else should trust their faculty.” (Source: Inside Higher Ed)