On the July 23 broadcast of his show, Newsradio 850 KOA host “Gunny” Bob Newman distorted remarks made by U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (IL) during the Democratic presidential debate held earlier in the evening. At one point, Newman said that Obama “live on TV claimed he has a hard time getting a cab on Manhattan because he's half-black,” calling the statement a “wild claim” without noting New York city's ongoing crackdown on “taxicab service refusals” and the program's origins due to past complaints of racial discrimination by cab drivers. Moreover, Newman referred to Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden as “Obama” and said his use of the senator's name when speaking of bin Laden was “no Freudian slip.”

Later in the broadcast, Newman further claimed that Obama “said that if he is president he will use his expertise in intelligence -- military intelligence -- and that that will allow him to personally ensure that all intel that crosses his desk is accurate before going to war.” In fact, according to the debate transcript, Obama said, “When I am president of the United States, when I send our troops into battle, I am going to be absolutely sure that it is based on sound intelligence.”

Questioning “the polls” that said “Barack Obama won the [July 23] debate,” Newman criticized Obama's response to one question by saying, “Barack Obama claimed live on TV that he can't get a cab, or has a hard time getting one on Manhattan” and asking his listeners if he should “have to prove this wild claim?”

From the July 23 broadcast of Newsradio 850 KOA's The Gunny Bob Show:

NEWMAN: We're talking about the CNN/YouTube-sponsored Democratic presidential candidate debate and, boy, some of the -- the sparks were flying fairly well tonight. And most people are saying by the polls I've seen so far that Barack Obama won the debate. Well, do you think that he did? And on some of the issues, do you agree with Dennis Kucinich that we should pay African-Americans who are alive today reparations? Large checks, write each one of them a large check because of slavery, which, which thank goodness was finally defeated in America when the North defeated the South in 1865 in the Civil War. And Barack Obama -- speaking of race relations -- Barack Obama live on TV claimed he has a hard time getting a cab on Manhattan because he's half-black. Claimed it live on television. Do you believe him? You know, I've been to Manhattan I don't know how many times. I've been from one end of Manhattan to the other. I go there as frequently as I can with my wife, Susan, on vacation and we always go to Manhattan because we like it so much. And I have never seen -- of, of all the different people that are there -- I have never seen an African-American having a hard time, any more of a hard time getting a cab than anyone else. But Barack Obama claimed live on TV that he can't get a cab, or has a hard time getting one on Manhattan. Do you believe him? Should he have to prove this wild claim?

According to the debate transcript from CNN, Obama responded to a YouTube user's question about being “authentically black enough” by saying, “You know, when I'm catching a cab in Manhattan -- in the past, I think I've given my credentials,” a remark that drew laughter from the audience. He then continued, “But let me go to the broader issue here. And that is that race permeates our society. It is still a critical problem”:

COOPER: Senator Obama, how do you address those who say you're not authentically black enough?

(LAUGHTER)

OBAMA: Well ...

COOPER: Not my question; Jordan's question.

OBAMA: You know, when I'm catching a cab in Manhattan -- in the past, I think I've given my credentials.

(LAUGHTER)

(APPLAUSE)

But let me go to the broader issue here. And that is that race permeates our society. It is still a critical problem.

But I do believe in the core decency of the American people, and I think they want to get beyond some of our racial divisions.

Unfortunately, we've had a White House that hasn't invested in the kinds of steps that have to be done to overcome the legacy of slavery and Jim Crow in this country.

And as president of the United States, my commitment on issues like education, my commitment on issues like health care is to close the disparities and the gaps, because that's what's really going to solve the race problem in this country.

If people feel like they've got a fair shake, if children feel as if the fact that they have a different surname or they've got a different skin color is not going to impede their dreams, then I am absolutely confident that we're going to be able to move forward on the challenges that we face as a country.

(APPLAUSE)

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In criticizing Obama's remark as a “wild claim” and professing never to have witnessed any discrimination by taxi drivers in Manhattan, Newman made no reference to the New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission's ongoing “Operation Refusal” program to investigate “taxicab service refusals.” The program originated as part of a crackdown in 1999 under former Mayor Rudy Giuliani following numerous complaints that cab drivers frequently refused to pick up black passengers, including a well-publicized 1999 complaint by actor Danny Glover. In a November 24, 1999, article in the New York Beacon (accessed through the Nexis database), Giuliani outlined the reasons for the program and its enforcement plans:

The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission has worked very aggressively over the last six years to identify and root out bias or discrimination in the cab industry. We conceived and implemented "Operation Refusal," an intensive undercover effort designed to reduce incidences of drivers refusing to pick up passengers because of their race or background or because of where the passenger asks to be driven.

But now, in light of prevalent concerns that this remains a serious problem, we're going to go further. Cab drivers have a public privilege that allows them to operate their business on our streets. Under no circumstances can we allow them to abuse this privilege by discriminating against New Yorkers they are supposed to serve.

[...]

That's why I have directed the New York City Police Department and the Taxi and Limousine Commission to intensify their existing enforcement, particularly focusing on situations of cab drivers who refuse to pick up minority passengers or refuse to take any passenger to their destination.

The ideas is to send out additional undercover officers to hail cabs -- and when cabbies don't stop or otherwise refuse to do their job in compliance with the law, the officers will fine them, suspend their licenses, and take their cabs to a police precinct until it can be picked up.

According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission's 2006 annual report, compliance testing of New York City cab drivers under the program in 2006 found a 94.13 percent compliance rate.

Later, in reference to the “cab in Manhattan” remark, Newman said he “think[s] this show should fly to New York City” and “get an actor and put him in full Osama regalia.” Newman added, “You make that guy -- you make him 6 foot 3, however tall Obama is -- or, excuse me, Osama is -- and no Freudian slip there. And ... put him there and watch how many cabs will stop ... and pick him up”:

NEWMAN: I think, I think this show should fly to New York City, if we had the money. God, only -- if I asked my boss, though, [caller], “Hey can you send us, you know, with a camera crew and all of this other stuff so we can put some streaming, streaming video on the show” -- and I, I don't think she'd would buy off on it. But I would love to do this and I would have Asians out there, and I would have Hispanics, and I would have somebody dressed up as Osama. And I'll tell you something: You dress somebody up, I mean, you, you get an actor and put him in full Osama regalia, and, and I mean, I mean really make him look -- you get a Hollywood makeup artist. You make that guy -- you make him 6 foot 3, however tall Obama is -- or, excuse me, Osama is -- and no Freudian slip there. And, and put him there and watch how many cabs will stop, will stop and pick him up. I think, I'm guessing that a lot of them will because they know it's some kind of a gimmick.

As Media Matters for America has documented (here, here, and here), numerous conservative commentators have used terrorist Osama bin Laden's name when referring to Obama. Colorado Media Matters also has noted that Fox News Radio 600 KCOL host and program director Scott James and KOA host Mike Rosen have both called Obama “Osama.”

Later, after asking, "[W]hat else did Obama ... brag about himself?" during the debate, Newman asserted that Obama said “his expertise in intelligence is going to allow him to frankly be the first world leader in the history of mankind to personally guarantee that all military intelligence that crosses his desk will be accurate”:

NEWMAN: Now, what else did Obama, what else did he brag about himself? He said that if he is president he will use his expertise in intelligence -- military intelligence -- and that that will allow him to personally ensure that all intel that crosses his desk is accurate before going to war. He said this live on TV. Barack Obama. The man's never spent a day in the military. This man has no experience with intelligence. None. But yet he says his expertise in intelligence is going to allow him to frankly be the first world leader in the history of mankind to personally guarantee that all military intelligence that crosses his desk will be accurate. What? What? [laughs] Does this guy live in a fantasy land? Nobody has ever been able to do that. The world's greatest intelligence chiefs, people who have spent 30, 40, 50 years in intel would never make such a claim. But here's Barack Obama claiming he can do it. Hmm. Can he?

Again, the debate transcript contradicted Newman's characterization of Obama's remarks. Rather than saying he “will use his expertise in intelligence,” Obama stated that his decision to “send our troops into battle” will be “based on sound intelligence” and that he is “going to tell the truth to the American people”:

COOPER: Senator Obama, are the soldiers dying in Iraq in vain?

OBAMA: Our soldiers have done everything that's been asked of them. They deposed Saddam Hussein.

They have carried out extraordinarily difficult missions with great courage and great bravery.

But, you know, one thing I have to say about Senator Clinton's comments a couple of moments ago. I think it's terrific that she's asking for plans from the Pentagon, and I think the Pentagon response was ridiculous. But what I also know is that the time for us to ask how we were going to get out of Iraq was before we went in.

(APPLAUSE)

And that is something that too many of us failed to do. We failed to do it. And I do think that that is something that both Republicans and Democrats have to take responsibility for.

When I am president of the United States, when I send our troops into battle, I am going to be absolutely sure that it is based on sound intelligence, and I'm going to tell the truth to the American people, as well as the families who are being asked to sacrifice.

COOPER: To the question of, did the troops -- are the troops dying in vain, though: Yes or no?

OBAMA: I never think that troops, like those who are coming out of The Citadel, who do their mission for their country, are dying in vain. But what I do think is that the civilian leadership and the commander in chief has a responsibility to make sure that they have the plans that are going to allow our troops to succeed in their mission.