Let me preface this by saying that I am not a fan of Howard Stern. Over the decades, he has morphed from “shock jock” to celebrity elbow rubber, and no iteration ever caught my fancy. Moreover, blunt and crude radio personalities like Stern typically are not great Democratic role models. That’s because they will often make “edgy,” offensive remarks about women, minorities or cultural issues to get a laugh, a reaction and/or higher ratings. This week, however, Stern made comments that should raise the antennae of Democrats who are looking for ways to talk about the Republicans.
Specifically, on his SiriusXM satellite radio show this past Monday, Stern went off on Republicans’ pathological use of the term “woke” as a criticism of Democratic values.:
I kind of take that as a compliment, that I’m ‘woke.’ … To me, the opposite of ‘woke’ is being asleep…. And if ‘woke’ means I can’t get behind [Donald Trump], which is what I think it means, or that I support people who want to be transgender, or I’m for the vaccine — dude, call me ‘woke’ as you f‑‑‑ing want.
As to the Trump supporters who most often use the “woke” term against Democrats, Stern said:
I want to read legitimate news sources. Here’s how ‘woke’ I am: I believe the election was not rigged.
Continuing on the subject of the latest updated COVID vaccine (which Republicans such as Ron DeSantis criticize as “woke,”), Stern added that he recently took the jab:
I’m not for stupidity…. F‑‑‑in’ science. This f‑‑‑ing country is so great…. I am ‘woke,’ motherf‑‑‑er. And I love it.
While we would likely choose some different language, and it’s clear that many people will simply say, “I can’t stand the guy,” on this occasion at least, Howard Stern demonstrated one way to go on offense against the Republicans.
[Originally published at MessagingMatters.com. Copyright 2023 Messaging Matters]