Sullivan denies having made comparison between Obama and Hitler

On the February 14 broadcast of Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan Show, host Tom Sullivan addressed the controversy over his February 11 airing of what he called at the time "a little side-by-side comparison" of speeches by Adolf Hitler and Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL). On his February 14 show, Sullivan said: "I wasn't trying to make a comparison. There isn't any comparison. There was none yesterday, there was none Monday, there will not be any in the future. It's nonsense." Sullivan also said that "[s]ome people picked up on what we said on the show on Monday and suggested that I was in some way equating Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler, and there was nothing of the sort that came up. Nothing like that happened."

From the February 14 edition of Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan Show:

SULLIVAN: Before we get started on this big program today, there's a issue which has come up which I want to address. And that issue is before we start the program today -- listen, this is crazy. But I want to clarify something that happened on Monday's show. We were talking about Barack Obama and his ability to excite crowds through his speaking ability, his rhetoric, his -- I mean, he's an orator that is unbelievable. I mean, I was talking about the fact that he had this big speech after winning over the weekend all these primaries, and I thought, "Wow, this guy can really knock it right out of the ballpark when it comes to his speech." So we're talking about how he can -- and I was playing clips about how Barack Obama was getting cheers and the crowd was going wild and he was talking about winning. And a caller called and said -- suggested that -- the caller suggested that he thought that Hitler had the same ability.

Well, once you enter the word "Hitler" into a conversation, everything changes. So, I said, "Really?" So we played clips of both to let you decide. Well, guess what happened? Sometimes people pick up on things, and they pick up on them in a way that they really misinterpret what really was going on. Some people picked up on what we said on the show on Monday and suggested that I was in some way equating Barack Obama and Adolf Hitler, and there was nothing of the sort that came up. Nothing like that happened. In fact, you know, I know, everyone knows, Hitler was one of the most despicable, evil people -- mass murderer, who, without question, one of the worst people to ever walk the face of the earth. No humanity. Absolutely, there is no comparison. I wasn't trying to make a comparison. There isn't any comparison. There was none yesterday, there was none Monday, there will not be any in the future. It's nonsense. Absolutely pure nonsense that anyone would think otherwise, but it has come up with some people picking up -- and, you know, it's one of those things where they hear only part or they hear what they want to hear. But in any case, I wanted to clarify it before I took off for the day and went out and did some Valentine's stuff.

And Spencer Hughes is going to pick up the program today and tomorrow and also on Monday because I also have a big love for Presidents Day too, so. So, just, I wanted to come in here before we got too far in the program before this thing started getting out of control and put a stop to the nonsense that's going out on the air out there, around on different places. So have yourself a wonderful Valentine's Day.

—E.H.H.