Olbermann named Limbaugh "Worst Person" for claiming Dems are interested in Darfur for electoral reasons

Summary: Keith Olbermann named Rush Limbaugh the "winner" of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for claiming that Democratic opponents of the Iraq war have focused on the genocide in Darfur in order to secure a percentage of the black "voting bloc." Olbermann also named Bill O'Reilly the "runner-up" for telling "his cable audience, quote, 'We know that journalists, most journalists, give money to Democrats.' " Olbermann asserted: "Not really, no. The report said that most journalists who do give money to political groups give that money to Democrats. But the report only found 127 American journalists who had given money to Democrats out of about 100,000."

During the August 26 special Sunday edition of Countdown on NBC, host Keith Olbermann named syndicated radio host Rush Limbaugh the "winner" of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for claiming that Democratic opponents of the Iraq war have focused on the genocide in Darfur in order to secure a percentage of the black "voting bloc," as Media Matters for America documented. Olbermann stated: "[O]ur winner, in an upset, comedian Rush Limbaugh, explaining that Americans who want to see their sons and daughters, and friends and neighbors, brought home from Iraq alive are actually racists." Olbermann quoted Limbaugh's comments from the August 21 broadcast of the nationally syndicated Rush Limbaugh Show on the purported "reasons" why Democrats "want to get us out of Iraq but can't wait to get us into Darfur." Limbaugh said on that program, "What color is the skin of the people in Darfur? It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to keep voting for them? If they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc, they're in trouble. ... So you go into Darfur and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela."

Limbaugh frequently appears on Olbermann's "Worst Person" list, as Media Matters has noted (here, here, here, here, here, and here). On August 2, Olbermann awarded Limbaugh the "bronze" for claiming that "Democrats have, quote, 'aligned themselves with the enemy. The enemy kills more soldiers, their spokesmen here in America are the Democrats. When we kill more of the enemy, the Democrats are silent and they say nothing. But when you have reports of, you know, another IED or a picture of a car on fire, then the Democrats assume the role of media PR spokespeople for Al Qaeda.' "

On the August 27 show, Olbermann also named Fox News host Bill O'Reilly the "runner-up" for, as Media Matters also noted, asserting that "most journalists give money to Democrats," apparently referring to an MSNBC report on journalists' political donations. After reading O'Reilly's claim, Olbermann responded: "Not really, no. The report said that most journalists who do give money to political groups give that money to Democrats. But the report only found 127 American journalists who had given money to Democrats out of about 100,000. That would be approximately one one-tenth of one percent, Billy, as opposed to, say, most."

On July 18, Olbermann named O'Reilly the "winner" of the "Worst Person" segment for defending his earlier comparison of the blog Daily Kos to the Nazis and the Ku Klux Klan. As Media Matters has documented (here, here, here, and here), Olbermann also frequently names O'Reilly in his "Worst Person" segment.

From the August 26 special edition of Countdown with Keith Olbermann on NBC:

OLBERMANN: Our runner-up, good ol' Bill-O. Bill O'Reilly of Fixed News, citing a recent investigative report from, of all places, MSNBC.com. He told his cable audience, quote, "We know that journalists, most journalists, give money to Democrats." Not really, no. The report said that most journalists who do give money to political groups give that money to Democrats. But the report only found 127 American journalists who had given money to Democrats out of about 100,000. That would be approximately one one-tenth of one percent, Billy, as opposed to, say, most.

But our winner, in an upset, comedian Rush Limbaugh explaining that Americans who want to see their sons and daughters, and friends and neighbors, brought home from Iraq alive are actually racists. "They want to get us out of Iraq but they can't wait to get us into Darfur," comedian explained. "What color is the skin of the people in Darfur," he asked rhetorically. "It's black. And who do the Democrats really need to continue voting for them, if they lose a significant percentage of this voting bloc they're in trouble." Wait, I haven't gotten to the best part yet. "So you go into Darfur," comedian added, "and you go into South Africa, you get rid of the white government there. You put sanctions on them. You stand behind Nelson Mandela."

Rush, I hate to break this to you but, most of American divestment in South Africa came while Ronald Reagan -- you might remember him -- while he was the president. And while the first George Bush was the president, they let Mandela out of jail and made the African National Congress legal again. And also, you're nuts.

Comedian Rush Limbaugh, today's Worst Person in the World.

—A.I.