Watch Joy Behar's Reaction When 'Opie with Jim Norton' Co-Host Politely Pushes Back, Defends Rush Limbaugh as Not 'Racist

Comedian Joy Behar made it clear that she believes conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh is a “racist” during a Monday appearance on SirusXM’s “Opie with Jim Norton" radio show. She also seemed slightly annoyed when co-host Jim Norton politely disagreed with her and said he’d never heard Limbaugh say anything racist.

“I don’t think he’s a racist either though, I mean, I think he’s a very conservative guy,” Norton said.

“Oh, he says plenty of racist s**t,” Behar shot back.

“I don’t know, I don’t find him to be racist,” Norton added. “I’ve never heard him say anything that I thought was racist.”

(Source: OpieRadio)

When Behar claimed that Limbaugh refers to President Barack Obama as the “magic negro,” Norton still pushed back. The phrase made its way to Limbaugh’s radio show in the form of satirical song written by political satirist Paul Shanklin. The song came after Los Angeles Times critic David Ehrenstein first linked Obama to the magic negro, a “figure of postmodern folk culture” who serves to ease racial tensions.

Though he didn’t appear to be aware of the phrase’s origins, Norton suggested Limbaugh was likely sarcastically addressing the "way liberals view him."

“I don’t think he’s actually looking at him and saying, ‘the magic negro,’ because he’s certainly not saying that about conservative Republican blacks,” Norton said. “I’m sure he’s not referring to Clarence Thomas like that. So, it’s probably just a sarcastic way of looking at the way liberals idolize Obama.”

“That’s a nice spin,” Behar responded, later criticizing Limbaugh for even saying the word “negro” at all.

“It’s annoying to African-Americans to be called negroes,” she continued. “That’s why I think he’s a racist, because he knows it’s going to upset African-American people.”

Behar went on to praise Obama for doing a “remarkable job” as president “under the circumstances.” Watch the clip below via OpieRadio: