Kathy Griffin just nullified every opinion she’s ever had

KATHY Griffin has been justifiably condemned by all sides for her revolting stunt, but there’s no taking back the perfectly wrapped present she handed the alt-right, writes Claire Sutherland.

A memorial to the two men who lost their lives defending two teenage girls from racist harassment in Portland, Oregon. Veteran Ricky Best, 53 (left), was a father of four, and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche, a 23 year old student. (Pic: Gillian Flaccus/AP)

KATHY Griffin just scored an enormous goal for the alt-right.

She may have already apologised for her revolting stunt — involving her holding a replica of a bloodied and severed Donald Trump head — but it’s too late.

She’s given anyone who supports Donald Trump powerful ammunition to unleash for the next few days at least, overshadowing matters of genuine importance, such as accusations his son-in-law Jared Kushner sought “back door” channels to Russia in the lead up to Trump’s inauguration.

But most unforgivably, imagine being a friend or family member of someone actually beheaded by Islamic terrorists — think journalists Daniel Pearl, James Foley, Steven Sotloff — and seeing that gruesome image on social media.

The effigy she used wasn’t a puppet or a doll, it was a highly realistic and truly gruesome prop that looked like it had been made by an expert. It gave me an actual start when I saw it this morning.

And what was Griffin’s point?

Was she suggesting Islamic State’s methods are justified if it involved a president she hated?

Was she calling for the assassination of Trump?

This is an epic own goal for the comedian. She’s has nullified any future opinions she might have about Trump and provided an enormous distraction at a time when attention is what’s needed.

And she’s cemented many people’s views that those of the Left are unhinged lunatics.

Griffin received nothing but condemnation from all sides following her foolish post, from left and right.

Everyone from Chelsea Clinton to Debra Messing rounded on her, Messing making the point that it’s impossible to condemn the burning of Obama effigies and hold the severed head of Trump at the same time.

I would argue though, that the Left has a far better record of condemning one of its own when it’s warranted than the Right.

It took Donald Trump 48 hours to make a fairly tepid statement about the two American heroes — one a veteran and Republican who had unsuccessfully stood for local government and the other a student — who lost their lives defending a pair of girls, one wearing a hijab, from harassment by a white supremacist on a Portland, Oregon train.

Trump’s statement condemned the hate and intolerance the men were standing against, but Ricky Best and Taliesin Myrddin Namkai-Meche deserved more.

And between the attack and his statement he tweeted four times declaring the Jared Kushner coverage “fake news”.

Trump is obviously not in any way responsible for what happened to these men, but the fact remains, Islamophobic attacks have increased in the US since his rise to power, and a strong statement from him condemning the white supremacy movement, and lauding those men as the heroes they are would be a welcome move from the President.

And while Griffin’s stunt was utterly gross and without any shred of human decency — and may even have constituted a tacit threat to the president — compared to the murder of those two heroes, its significance pales.

Claire Sutherland is acting editor of RendezView.