‘Woman of the year’ Kathy Griffin says she won’t support ‘another old, white guy’ in 2020

Comedian Kathy Griffin has never been one for mincing words.

Sitting at the back of the Assembly floor waiting to be called up to receive her district’s “Woman of the Year” award, Griffin evaluated her Democratic options for the 2020 presidential race.

She’s not yet sure who exactly she wants to win, but she has a solid idea who she doesn’t.

“I’m gonna give you a hint: It’s probably not gonna be another old, white guy,” Griffin said. “At 58 years old, I want to see a female president before I die. That’s kind of big on my personal agenda.”

Still, she said she likes “all presidential contenders who aren’t (President Donald) Trump,” adding that Republicans “have nothing but Trump and that other white guy I never heard of.”

That would be former Massachusetts Gov. Bill Weld.

Griffin was proud to accept the invitation to come to the Capitol as a “woman of the year.” Each lawmaker selected one woman from his or her district for the honor.

Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, selected Griffin for the recognition to highlight her work, he said.

“She has an outspoken personality, which you obviously know ,” Bloom said. “She owns that, and she has a story to tell. This is truly about honoring her work in the community, which, cumulatively, is pretty amazing.”

Bloom said he didn’t mean for his choice to be considered as a jab at Trump. Griffin in 2017 posed for a photograph that showed her holding a mask of Trump’s decapitated head. It sparked outrage among conservatives and prompted CNN to pull her from the network’s New Year’s Eve broadcasts.

Griffin described herself as the victim of a “smear campaign” and said Republicans would create “terrible memes about every Democrat contender.”

Her advice to those Democrats: “Stay standing and do the work.”

She worries the country has lost its ability to take a joke.

“It’s a really difficult comedic climate right now,” Griffin said. “In comedy, it’s a very fine line right now. A lot of people get too easily offended, and then a lot of people aren’t offended when they should be. I just feel like I try to make my material so specific to own experiences that I just kind of tell it like it is.”

As Griffin stepped forward to accept her award, she offered three simple words to those in attendance: “Screw Donald Trump!”

This story was originally published March 4, 2019 at 3:44 PM.