Double standard, anyone? New York Mayor Bill de Blasio and Hillary Clinton performed a little skit on stage at a gala on Saturday night for which they were mildly rebuked by left wing media for its racially charged references.

Fox News:

Clinton took the stage ostensibly to thank De Blasio, a former aide, for his belated endorsement of her for the Democratic nomination. 

"Took you long enough," Clinton said. 

De Blasio responded, "Sorry, Hillary. I was running on C.P. time." The phrase, popular in pop culture, is a reference to the stereotype that African-Americans are typically late for appointments. 

Broadway actor Leslie Odom Jr., who was also on stage with Clinton and De Blasio and appeared to be in on the joke, said, "That's not - I don't like jokes about that, Bill."

Clinton then turned to Odom and delivered the punch line, "Cautious Politician Time. I've been there."

The exchange takes place at the 8:30 mark of this video, posted on the NYC Mayor's Office YouTube channel.

Salon called it "cringeworthy." New York Magazine referred to it as "amazingly unfunny, terribly executed."

The explanation by de Blasio reveals how the double standard is possible:

"It was clearly a staged show. It was a scripted show and the whole idea was to do the counter intuitive and say 'cautious politician time,'" he said. "Every actor involved, including Hillary Clinton and Leslie Odom Jr., thought it was a joke on a different convention."

See? It was the "intent" of de Blasio and Clinton that mattered, not the fact that the joke was insulting and racist.

Imagine now, a Republican presidential candidate making that "joke." There would have been universal outrage and calls for the candidate to quit the race. And any explanation involving "intent" would have been ridiculed.

I don't wonder anymore if the left recognizes this double standard or whether they're just oblivious to their own biases. All liberals know how to play this game, so if they slip up, the script is already written for moving on.