Dave Chappelle: 'I don’t look at Trump supporters as my enemy'

Dave Chappelle is certainly not a conservative. In fact, he's endorsed Andrew Yang in the Democratic primary — the candidate whose signature policy proposal is a $1,000 per month universal basic income.

But Chappelle has both sparked criticism and gained some admiration for calling things like he sees them, even when it goes against what might be expected of him as a wealthy liberal celebrity.

His latest violation of liberal elite dogma: He doesn't hate people who voted for or support President Donald Trump.

"I don't look at Trump supporters as my enemy at all," Chappelle said. "I understand why people voted for Trump, I understand people are desperate. And I think that Andrew is right you run against the reasons that Trump got elected. I got friends on both sides of the political aisle, I got fans on both sides of the political aisle. A lot of people say professionally it's not wise to support any candidate, but this idea is so good, that I think it should exist. And I think the fountainhead of many of the good ideas on the table this year are coming from a single source — Andrew Yang. And for some reason, no one's paying attention. This guy is the origin of a platform that really does address where I think the country needs to go."

Chappelle's stance on Trump supporters is vastly different than that of CNN host Don Lemon and his guests, Rick Wilson and Wajahat Ali. A Saturday night segment on Lemon's show devolved into hysterical mocking of Trump supporters as uneducated "boomer rube[s]."

During the segment, Lemon threw all pretense of professionalism out the window, doubling over and laughing until he cried as his guests impersonated stereotypical Trump supporters using mock redneck accents. That segment has become a representation of liberal elite condescension of Trump supporters, and has even found its way into a GOP political ad.