On CNN Headline News show, Beck repeated comparison of Dean and Ahmadinejad, again mocked Muslim names

Summary: On his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck repeated his comparison of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Howard Dean and again mocked men with Muslim names.

On the August 14 edition of his CNN Headline News program, Glenn Beck repeated his comparison -- aired earlier that day on his nationally syndicated radio program -- of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Democratic National Committee (DNC) chairman Howard Dean. After playing a clip of Ahmadinejad's claim, during an August 13 interview on CBS' 60 Minutes with correspondent Mike Wallace, that the Bush administration wants "to monopolize energy resources in the world," Beck asked on his CNN program: "Who are you, frickin' Howard Dean, man?" Later in the program, Beck mocked the names of three men who were recently arrested outside a Wal-Mart in Caro, Michigan, reportedly carrying 1,000 untraceable cell phones and photos of the Mackinac Bridge, describing them as "[t]hree guys with names I could never pronounce, basically Mohammed, Mustafa, Abdul, something like that." The three men arrested on August 11 were Adham Othman, Louai Othman, and Maruwan Muhareb.

On the August 15 edition of his radio program, Beck repeated his comparison of Ahmadinejad and the DNC, and continued his mocking of Muslim names. Beck aired a clip of Ahmadinejad and followed it with an announcer claiming "This message brought to you by the Democratic National Committee." Later in the program, while discussing security at American airports, Beck referred to Muslims working at airports as "Mohammed-Mohammed-Mustafa-Mohammed."

As Media Matters has noted, Beck also mocked Muslim names on the August 9 edition of his television program, airing a fake segment asking for help "if you've seen any of the following Egyptian students missing since July 29." It ended with a reading of the names in quick succession, followed by the announcer pretending to gag as he struggled to pronounce the names, and the announcer saying: "If you know the whereabouts of these men, please call the FBI immediately. If you know how to correctly pronounce their names, well, call us."

From the August 14 edition of CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck:

AHMADINEJAD [video clip, through translator]: We think that Mr. Bush's team and the parties that support him want to monopolize energy resources in the world. Because once they have that, they can impose their opinions, points of view, policies, on other nations, and, of course, line their own pockets.

BECK: Oh, absolutely -- this has absolutely nothing to do with, you know, you wanting to destroy Israel and create an Islamofascist planet. No, no, no. This is about Halliburton. It is. Who are you, frickin' Howard Dean, man?

[...]

BECK: Friday, three men were arrested outside a Wal-Mart in Caro, Michigan, about 80 miles north of Detroit. Authorities say -- I love this -- they had about a thousand cell phones in their van.

The men say, "What? We were selling them for profit in Texas." Really? How much profit do you think you're going to make selling the cell phones without the chargers? I'm just saying.

Three guys with names I could never pronounce, basically Mohammed, Mustafa, Abdul, or something like that, they were all cell phone dealers from Texas. They were arrested for collecting materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of vulnerable targets for terrorist purposes.

From the August 15 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Glenn Beck Program:

BECK: What? We -- But we just -- Again, I apologize, this is very unprofessional, but I guess we have another sponsor here that we have to play their commercial for again. I apologize.

AHMADINEJAD [video clip, through translator]: Mr. Bush's team want to monopolize energy resources in the world because once they have that they can impose their opinions, points of view, policies on other nations and of course line their own pockets. The problem that President Bush has, that in his mind he wants to solve everything with bombs. Today is the era of thoughts, dialogue, and cultural exchanges. Why are the Americans killing Iraqis on a daily basis? Forty-five million people don't have a health care cover. That is very sad to hear. His approval rating is dropping every day.

ANNOUNCER: This message brought to you by the Democratic National Committee.

[...]

BECK: Me, personally I think it's better than 9-11. You know, I think we've made improvements. But who actually thinks that we've got it down, we're doing everything we should be doing? No. We're doing everything we have to do. And I don't mean like everything we have to do to knock this evil out. I mean everything we have to do so somebody can't point immediately to, you know, some report that says, "Wait a minute, they knew that guy was working there."

They're firing the guys they find, you know, Mohammed-Mohammed-Mustafa-Mohammed that happens to be working at the airport. You know, that's on the FBI Most Wanted list. If they happen to discover that he's actually still got a job there, they'll fire him. But, Mohammed-Mohammed-Mustafa-Mohammed is probably still applying for a job and is probably still working at some airports.

—R.D. & L.F.