Savage on Obama: "We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings"

Summary: On his radio show, Michael Savage falsely asserted that Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim, claiming that "[w]e have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings." The Obama campaign website states that Obama "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ."

On the February 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage falsely asserted that Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim, claiming that "[w]e have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings." Savage made the comment while discussing a recent New York Times article that reported on Sen. John McCain's relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist. Savage dismissed the article and suggested that the media should be more concerned about "the Muslim connection to Obama." He continued: "Barack Hussein Obama. Father Muslim, grandfather Muslim. Nothing wrong with that. But we, the American people, being at war with radical Islam have a -- have a need to know just exactly what kind of Muslim he was exposed to, what kind of Muslim he is, what kind of Muslim teachings he's -- he's friendly to. We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings. That's something the media ought to be concerned about, not whether John McCain had an infatuation with a lobbyist 10 years ago." Savage went on to express concern that an unnamed "major reporter," who he said had spoken with him that morning, knew "nothing about Obama's Muslim background and the scandal that is behind all of that, that is raging on the Internet."

In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Obama is not a Muslim. The Obama campaign website states that Obama "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ." Numerous media figures, including Savage, have repeated the false rumor that Obama attended a madrassa as a child. Savage has frequently attacked Obama, on one occasion falsely referring to him as "Barack Madrassas Obama."

In addition to suggesting that the media should focus on "what kind of Muslim" Obama is, Savage asked: "[H]ow come we don't see you people running and foaming at the mouth about the scandals circulating about the Clintons right now with the uranium mine that Bill Clinton opened the door for and got a hundred-million-dollar gift to his library?" On January 31, The New York Times published an article about former President Bill Clinton's September 2005 trip to Kazakhstan with Canadian mining financier Frank Giustra, which baselessly suggested that Giustra was able to secure agreements giving his company the right to buy into Kazakh mining projects because of his connection to Clinton. At no point in the article, however, did the Times note that Giustra was reportedly involved in Kazakh mining deals at least as far back as the mid-1990s, undermining the article's suggestion that Giustra needed to tap his Clinton connection to do business in Kazakhstan.

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, says that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches more than 8 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the February 21 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: When I spoke to a news reporter this morning, and she asked me about the McCain scandal, and I said, wait a minute. It's an allegation, number one. But number two, how come we don't see you people running and foaming at the mouth about the scandals circulating about the Clintons right now with the uranium mine that Bill Clinton opened the door for and got a hundred-million-dollar gift to his library? She said to me, "Oh, I didn't hear about that. Where was that?" I said, where was it? It was five minutes in the news last week or two weeks ago. Huge story. But you people didn't run at it because there was no sex involved and it was about your boy Clinton.

And what about Muslim -- the Muslim connection to Obama? Barack Hussein Obama. Father Muslim, grandfather Muslim. Nothing wrong with that. But we, the American people, being at war with radical Islam have a -- have a need to know just exactly what kind of Muslim he was exposed to, what kind of Muslim he is, what kind of Muslim teachings he's -- he's friendly to. We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings. That's something that the media ought to be concerned about, not whether John McCain had an infatuation with a lobbyist 10 years ago. But then, I'm expecting too much. Much too much. You understand that? When a major reporter who is reasonably educated knows nothing about Obama's Muslim background and the scandal that is behind all of that, that is raging on the Internet, and says she knows nothing about Clinton and the uranium mine and the money from the Canadian businessman, the hundred million dollars given to his library when it was all over the media two weeks ago, and she doesn't know anything about it. You get it?

—T.Z.

Trevor Zimmer is an intern at Media Matters for America.