Cunningham smeared Obama, used his middle name during appearance at McCain rally

Summary: The MSNBC.com blog First Read reported that conservative radio host Bill Cunningham "repeatedly referred to [Sen. Barack] Obama as Barack Hussein Obama -- at least three times." Cunningham has a history of smearing Obama and referring to him as "Barack Hussein Obama," doing so on Hannity's America and his own nationally syndicated show.

During a February 26 rally for Sen. John McCain, conservative radio talk-show host Bill Cunningham "repeatedly referred to [Sen. Barack] Obama as Barack Hussein Obama -- at least three times," according to a post on the MSNBC.com blog First Read. In an update to the post, First Read reported that "McCain addressed the issue, saying he repudiated the comments and has respect for his Democratic opponents," and that "McCain accepted responsibility for the speaker while also saying he had not been in the room and had not heard the comments himself."

This is not the first time Cunningham has smeared Obama and referred to him as "Barack Hussein Obama." Discussing the Democratic presidential primaries during the January 27 edition of Fox News' Hannity's America, Cunningham said to host Sean Hannity: "I've had a couple individuals tell me that after the so-called 'white voters' in Iowa and New Hampshire weighed in heavily, especially in Iowa, for Barack Hussein Obama and then in New Hampshire, Hillary kind of made a little bit of a comeback. There has been a conscious effort by Bubba Clinton to smear and to slime Barack Hussein Obama on the race issue." Cunningham also asserted: "Barack may win, but he's been slimed by Bubba, and there's nothing he can do about it. The Clintons know what they are doing, and I'm afraid Barack Hussein Obama does not."

Additionally, on the January 6 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Live on Sunday Night, It's Bill Cunningham, Cunningham repeatedly referred to Obama as "Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama." In fact, "Mohammed" is not a part of Obama's name. Cunningham also falsely claimed that Obama "was raised in madrassas in Indonesia" and accused Obama's church, Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, of being "black separatist" and "black racist." When a caller said, "[I]n my opinion, not the opinion of this show, in my opinion, Obama is a sleeper cell because his parents are Muslim," Cunningham responded, "Only one [parent]." While Cunningham did not respond to the caller's "sleeper cell" charge, earlier in the broadcast, he had asserted that "it would be a shock" "if Barack Mohammed Hussein Obama can be elected the president of this country in these difficult terrorist times." Cunningham also said during the broadcast: "I wonder if Barack Hussein Obama understands the danger inflicted upon the world by Muslim male extremists."

—M.G.