NBC's Cowan said "Nobody that I know of has asked" Obama about Wright's 9-11 comments -- but NY Times did and he disavowed them
On MSNBC's Morning Joe, NBC correspondent Lee Cowan stated that "[n]obody that I know of has asked" Sen. Barack Obama about controversial comments his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, made just days after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. In fact, The New York Times asked Obama about Wright's remarks in a 2007 interview, and Obama reportedly replied, "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification." Read More
Noonan, Brzezinski mischaracterized Clinton's 60 Minutes response about Obama's religion
While discussing Sen. Barack Obama, The Wall Street Journal's Peggy Noonan said, "Remember that thing Mrs. Clinton said where she was asked, 'Do you think he's a Christian?' And she said one of those formulations like 'Oh, as far as I know, look into it.' " MSNBC's Mika Brzezinski replied, "Wink-wink, yeah." In fact, during an interview on CBS' 60 Minutes, Clinton was not asked, "Do you think he's a Christian?" -- when asked, "You don't believe that Senator Obama is a Muslim?" she immediately responded, "Of course not." Moreover, she compared "ridiculous rumors" circulating about her to rumors about Obama, making clear that the Obama rumors are false. Read More
Jack Kemp falsely asserted Clinton and Obama have "call[ed] for a halt to trade with Canada and Mexico"
On Hannity & Colmes, Jack Kemp falsely claimed that Sens. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have "call[ed] for a halt to trade with Canada and Mexico." In fact, both have spoken of "opt[ing] out" of NAFTA if the agreement is not renegotiated. Read More
Olbermann awarded Dobbs "Worst Person" "silver" for overstating illegal immigration as priority for voters
On the March 13 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded CNN host Lou Dobbs the "silver" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for misrepresenting polling by asserting on the March 10 broadcast of his radio show that "illegal immigration," which he grouped together with "border security" and "port security," is "one of the top three issues for American voters in both political parties." As Media Matters for America documented, while some recent polls have indicated that immigration is one of the top three issues for Republican voters, six different polls conducted since January asked respondents to name the issues most important to them, and not one indicated that illegal immigration is in the top three among Democratic voters or voters as a whole. Olbermann referred to several of the polls Media Matters cited, then stated: "So how does Lou Dobbs know [immigration] is one of the top three issues for all voters? Because he listens to the polling being done inside his own head, if you know what I mean." Read More
Morris: McCain "doesn't have to" engage in Willie Horton-like campaign because O'Reilly is already doing so
After airing portions of a controversial sermon by Rev. Jeremiah Wright, former pastor of Sen. Barack Obama's church, Bill O'Reilly -- who described Wright's comments as "anti-American, to say the least" -- asked Dick Morris, "If you were [Sen. John] McCain, do you use this against Obama?" Morris replied, "He doesn't have to. You just did. And the talk radio people around the country" will. Morris continued: "[T]he other media, the other conservative media can make a big deal of it." Read More
In WSJ op-ed, Kessler cropped Obama quotes commenting on Wright and Farrakhan
In a Wall Street Journal op-ed, Newsmax's Ronald Kessler truncated Sen. Barack Obama's response to a controversial statement by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright Jr., about 9-11, repeating a statement from a New York Times interview in which Obama said "it sounds like [Wright] was trying to be provocative." But Kessler omitted Obama's statement, reported in the same article, disagreeing with Wright's 9-11 comments: "The violence of 9/11 was inexcusable and without justification." Read More
Hannity ignored McCain's step back on 'No new taxes,' distorted Clinton's health care plan
On Fox News, Sean Hannity said to Sen. John McCain, "You've said three times in the last week or week and a half that you promised no new taxes. You mean none." In response, McCain said, "None." However, in a Wall Street Journal interview, McCain did not rule out raising taxes. Later in the Fox News interview, Hannity suggested that Sen. Hillary Clinton's health care proposal would "nationalize health care," and McCain replied, "We tried this. We've seen this movie before back in 1993, OK? And it is a government takeover." In fact, Clinton's proposal would not "nationalize health care" or seek a "government takeover" of it. Read More
Brzezinski said Obama "claimed" McCain "flip-flopp[ed]" on Bush tax cuts -- but it's not a "claim"; it's a fact
On MSNBC Live, Mika Brzezinski stated that Sen. Barack Obama "claimed" that Sen. John McCain "had initially opposed the tax cuts and was flip-flopping, just to get elected," and aired a clip of McCain saying, "Senator Obama has stated very clearly his desire to increase Americans' taxes." But Brzezinski did not acknowledge that Obama's "claim[]" that McCain reversed his position on the Bush tax cuts is in fact true, or that, contrary to McCain's assertion, Obama has proposed tax cuts for the poor and the middle class. Read More
Fox News' Camerota falsely asserted Dem bill "would strip telecommunications companies of their immunity"
Fox News' Alisyn Camerota falsely claimed that House "Democrats are pushing legislation which would strip telecommunications companies of their immunity." In fact, the House Democrats' bill does not "strip" telecommunications companies of immunity; it provides immunity prospectively, leaving intact existing immunity provisions under current law and leaving to the courts the question of whether the telecom companies are immune from suit for their prior alleged cooperation with the government in its warrantless domestic wiretapping program. Read More
Media figures claimed McCain would avoid issue of Obama's pastor -- but McCain campaign had already circulated op-ed
On MSNBC, Steve Thomma asserted that Sen. John McCain's campaign is "not going to touch" controversial comments by the former pastor of Sen. Barack Obama's church. On Morning Joe, McCain adviser Charlie Black declined to comment on Wright's statements, saying that McCain has said that "these candidates cannot be held accountable for all the views of people who endorse them or people who befriend them." Later on MSNBC, Chuck Todd noted Black's comments. However, the McCain campaign had already circulated to reporters a Wall Street Journal op-ed in which Ronald Kessler wrote that "Obama's close association with Mr. Wright ... raises legitimate questions about Mr. Obama's fundamental beliefs about his country," which "deserve a clearer answer than Mr. Obama has provided so far." Read More
ABC repeatedly noted controversial comments by Obama's "allies," but has yet to report comments by McCain endorsers
During recent editions of Good Morning America and World News, ABC discussed and aired reports on the "explosive statements" of Sen. Barack Obama's former pastor, Jeremiah Wright, but ABC has yet to report on controversial comments by two "allies" of Sen. John McCain. For example, evangelist John Hagee has said that "Hurricane Katrina was, in fact, the judgment of God against the city of New Orleans," and pastor Rod Parsley reportedly wrote that "America was founded, in part, with the intention of seeing this false religion [of Islam] destroyed." Read More
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