Rachel Campos-Duffy Stands By Remarks About ‘The Projects’: ‘I HAD Just Spoke To An African American’

Days after Fox News contributor Rachel Campos-Duffy became the subject of widespread mockery over her claim that she was told by black folks that detention centers holding migrant children were better than the projects they grew up in, she told the New York Times that she stands by her comments.

According to Campos-Duffy, an African-American had told her this right before she went on the air.

Ms. Campos-Duffy did not directly address criticism that associating black people with public housing was a stereotype. She said that she based her comment on a recent conversation with one man who is African-American, not multiple African-Americans, as she originally stated.

“I mentioned it because I HAD just spoke to an African American who complained to me about never seeing this level of media attention about Black kids being separated from their parents and that some of the facilities he saw looked nicer and safer than the projects he grew up in,” she wrote.

The former Real World cast member also told the Times that the “centers are not ideal, but they are safe, supervised, and provide three square meals, instruction and other resources” and that they indeed provide “better conditions than many poor American children have.”

“As an American mom, I have compassion for these kids too,” Campos-Duffy added.

In the aftermath of her ill-advised observation — which came days after Laura Ingraham called the detention centers “essentially summer camps” — the one-time reality TV star has been on the receiving end of withering online criticism.

Rachel Campos-Duffy ✌🏾spoke to some African Americans who said ‘gosh’✌🏾 and I shared a pizza with some Daleks who said ‘boy howdy, exterminate.’

These are two things that definitely happened https://t.co/48VYbmmAlJ

— Imani Gandy (@AngryBlackLady) June 23, 2018

Narrator: the “gosh” was a dead giveaway that Rachel Campos-Duffy indeed did not, speak with **any African-Americans https://t.co/XcC8Vf8PtI

— Brandon (@Brand0nWilliams) June 22, 2018

This country has a racist cancer and Fox News is the primary vehicle by which it spreads.

Every. Single. Day. https://t.co/ChjVBkidMN

— Jennifer Hayden (@Scout_Finch) June 22, 2018

Rachel Campos-Duffy’s very real, not-made-up-at-all black friends totally said, for real, that they saw the upside in mass, race-based incarceration… which is totally a real thing that Rachel’s real friends said for real. https://t.co/7zFKQvrPYF

— The Hoarse Whisperer (@HoarseWisperer) June 23, 2018

Meanwhile, Campos-Duffy portrayed herself as a victim, stating that “conservative minorities are accustomed to being attacked for telling the truth.”