Comedian Chris Rock rips Democrats over COVID: 'You let the pandemic come in' by focusing on impeachment

Comedian Chris Rock ripped Democrats for letting coronavirus spread in the U.S. because they were too fixated on impeaching President Donald Trump at the time.

The Senate acquitted Trump in February.

What are the details?

In an interview with the New York Times that was published Wednesday, Rock, 55, said that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and the Democratic Party were responsible for helping the spread of coronavirus in America because they were too focused on impeaching Trump.

Prefacing the remarks, Rock compared the Trump administration to the 1987 film "The Last Emperor." The film revolves around a child ruler.

"Did you ever see that movie 'The Last Emperor?'" he asked the interviewer. "Where, like, a 5-year-old is the emperor of China? There's a kid and he's the king. So I'm like, it's all the Democrats' fault."

"Because you knew that the emperor was 5 years old," he continued. "And when the emperor's 5 years old, they only lead in theory. There's usually an adult who's, like, 'OK, this is what we're really going to do.' And it was totally up to Pelosi and the Democrats. Their thing was 'We're going to get [Trump] impeached,' which was never going to happen. You let the pandemic come in. Yes, we can blame Trump, but he's really the 5-year-old."

Rock later said that both parties are guilty of propagating "fake news."

"Put it this way," he said. "Republicans tell outright lies. Democrats leave out key pieces of the truth that would lead to a more nuanced argument. In a sense, it's all fake news."

Anything else?

Elsewhere in the wide-ranging interview, Rock said that he wasn't offended by comedian Jimmy Fallon's use of blackface in a "Saturday Night Live" skit in the 1990s.

During the skit in question, Fallon portrayed Rock.

"Hey, man, I'm friends with Jimmy. Jimmy's a great guy," he said during the interview. "And he didn't mean anything. A lot of people want to say intention doesn't matter, but it does. And I don't think Jimmy Fallon intended to hurt me. And he didn't."

Following outcry over a resurfaced clip in May, Fallon issued a heartfelt apology.

"In 2000, while on SNL, I made a terrible decision to do an impersonation of Chris Rock while in blackface," he said at the time. "There is no excuse for this. I am very sorry for making this unquestionably offensive decision and thank all of you for holding me accountable."