Since sexual harassment allegations against GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain have emerged, right-wing media figures have blamed a wide range of people and entities for the story's emergence, from the “Democratic machine” to the “liberal media” and even “the left-wing nutjobs at Media Matters.”
Flailing: Right-Wing Media All Over The Place In Assigning Blame For Cain Story
Written by Chelsea Rudman & Melody Johnson
Published
The “Democratic Machine” Is Responsible...
Bolling: “Maybe The Democratic Machine” Was Partly Behind Cain Allegations. During the November 9 edition of Fox News' The Five, co-host Eric Bolling claimed that the sexual harassment allegations against Cain were part of a “systematic taking apart of the conservative right by the left” and later said that “maybe the Democratic machine” helped leak the story to Politico. [Fox News, The Five, 11/9/11, via Media Matters]
Geller: “They Want To Destroy Cain ... The Obamites Do Not Want To Go Up Against A Real African American Descended From Slaves.” In an November 8 post on her blog Atlas Shrugs, conservative commentator Pamela Geller wrote:
They want to destroy Cain. They need to destroy Cain. He's the real deal. The Obamites do not want to go up against a real African American descended from slaves who actually got to where he is the American way, through hard work, tenacity and smarts -- a true American. The battle for 2012 would be the producer vs the looter.
Cain is a liberal's nightmare. Obama may be slick, but Cain is real. The flogging he is getting over the sexual harassment allegations would be laughable if the media were not so dangerous. We sat back and watched the William Jefferson Clinton cigar and stain show. As if that weren't enough, he allegedly raped Juanita Broaddrick, sexually attacked Kathleen Willey, and dropped his pants and told Paula Jones to “kiss it.”
The struggle for the nomination is now. And I am so sick and tired of the enemedia and the subversive left destroying our most effective leaders on the right in their attempt to make them unelectable, all the while exalting vacuous vassals like Obama. They tried to do it to Reagan. They destroyed George W. Bush. They think they have done it to Sarah Palin, and now they are working on doing it to Herman Cain. [Atlas Shrugs, 11/8/11]
Limbaugh: “The Left Doesn't Like Black Conservatives.” On the November 4 edition of his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said, "[T]here's no question that this is being done to a black conservative. ... [T]he left doesn't like black conservatives." From the show:
LIMBAUGH: I'm simply describing what I see. And there's no question that this is being done to a black conservative. That the left doesn't like black conservatives. The left doesn't like Hispanic conservatives. The left doesn't like minorities who are conservative, who show an ability to rise to the top of any organization they're in. The left doesn't like it.
That's right. I have crossed the line, because the charge of racism is theirs exclusively to make. No one's allowed to make that charge, and here I come making the charge, and they can't deal. It's thrown right -- it hits them right upside the face, and they don't know what to do, except call a foul.
“You can't do that. That's what we do. You're not allowed to do that. You can't call us racist. You're the racist. You can't do that. Especially 'cause it's true. You can't call us out like that. You're gonna blow up our whole game if you keep doing this. You gotta shut up. We're gonna start trying to make fun of you and now maybe say you're in favor of affirmative action.” [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/4/11, via Media Matters]
Coulter “Liberals Are Terrified Of Herman Cain. ... They Are Terrified Of Strong, Conservative, Black Men.” On the October 30 edition of Fox News' Geraldo at Large, Fox News contributor Ann Coulter blamed the emergence of the story on “liberals” and went on to say:
COULTER: Liberals are terrified of Herman Cain. He is a strong conservative black man. Look at the way they go after Allen West and Michael Steele, and they're not even running against Obama. They are terrified of strong, conservative, black men. [Fox News, Geraldo at Large, 10/30/11, via RealClearPolitics]
... Or Maybe It Was Rahm Emanuel ...
Wash. Times' Picket: “According To A Source Who Is Friends With The Cain Campaign ... Rahm Emanuel Is Likely Involved With The Sexual Harassment Accuser Attacks.” In a November 2 post on The Washington Times' Water Cooler blog, Kerry Picket reported a claim by an anonymous source that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel likely leaked the story about sexual harassment allegations against Cain:
Herman Cain's campaign is revealing suspicions about who is behind the story regarding the former unidentified employees who accused Mr. Cain of sexual harassment in the late 1990's.
According to a source who is friends with the Cain campaign, not only is the Rick Perry campaign involved but also the Mayor of Chicago and former Obama White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel is likely involved with the sexual harassment accuser attacks. A friend of the Cain campaign believes a National Restaurant Association (NRA) employee out of the Chicago office leaked the story to the Perry campaign via information and influence from Mayor Rahm Emanuel's office. [The Washington Times, 11/2/11]
Jim Hoft: “It Was Rahmbo.” In a November 2 Gateway Pundit post, blogger Jim Hoft linked to the Washington Times post under the headline, “Cain Camp: Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel Is Also Involved in Sexual Accuser Attacks(?),” and wrote:
It was Rahmbo.
According to the latest reports, the Cains [sic] campaign is also suggesting that Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel is involved in the sexual accuser attacks. [Gateway Pundit, 11/2/11, emphasis original]
Fox's Bolling: “Is A Rival Campaign, One Of The Accusers, Or Even Rahm Emanuel Behind The Herman Cain Leak?” Teasing a segment on the allegations against Cain, Eric Bolling said on the November 3 edition of Fox News' The Five: “Plus, a question of who done it. Is a rival campaign, one of the accusers, or even Rahm Emanuel behind the Herman Cain leak?” Emanuel's name did not come up during the actual segment Bolling was teasing. [Fox News, The Five, 11/3/11]
... And Other Chicago Democrats, Such As David Axelrod ...
Wash. Times Baselessly Suggests Top Chicago Dems Behind Cain Story. In a November 7 post on The Washington Times' Water Cooler blog, Picket suggested that former Chicago Mayor Richard Daley and his former chief of staff may have been involved in leaking the Cain story:
Bialek, who identified herself as a Republican, was born and raised in Chicago and spent the majority of her life in the city. From the end of 1996 until her termination in mid 1997, she worked for the National Restaurant Association Educational Foundation (NRAEF) Chicago offices. Bialek says she does not plan on filing any lawsuits against Mr. Cain.
Although the National Restaurant Association has a government relations office in the Washington D.C. area, it's main headquarters is in Chicago, where the annual show is held and where the state restaurant associations network with another.
Interestingly, the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), located in Chicago, is headed up by Sheila O'Grady. Ms. O'Grady, who was the chief of staff to former Chicago mayor Richard Daley, was appointed President of the IRA in 2007. [The Washington Times, 11/7/11, via Media Matters]
Coulter Claims “Axelrod's Pattern of Sexual Misbehavior” Proves That “Obama's Little Helpers ... Are Hoping To Destroy” Cain. In a November 9 op-ed on Human Events, misleadingly titled, “David Axelrod's Pattern of Sexual Misbehavior,” Coulter attempted to link former Obama adviser David Axelrod to the allegations against Cain. She claimed that Axelrod has a “history of smearing political opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them” and claimed that “all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago.” Fox Nation also linked to Coulter's op-ed, echoing the claim of Axelrod's “Pattern of Sexual Misbehavior.” From the op-ed:
Herman Cain has spent his life living and working all over the country -- Indiana, Georgia, Minnesota, Nebraska, Kansas, Washington, D.C. -- but never in Chicago.
So it's curious that all the sexual harassment allegations against Cain emanate from Chicago: home of the Daley machine and Obama consigliere David Axelrod.
Suspicions had already fallen on Sheila O'Grady, who is close with David Axelrod and went straight from being former Chicago mayor Richard M. Daley's chief of staff to president of the Illinois Restaurant Association (IRA), as being the person who dug up Herman Cain's personnel records from the National Restaurant Association (NRA).
The Daley-controlled IRA works hand-in-glove with the NRA. And strangely enough, Cain's short, three-year tenure at the NRA is evidently the only period in his decades-long career during which he's alleged to have been a sexual predator.
[...]
Herman Cain has never lived in Chicago. But you know who has? David Axelrod! And guess who lived in Axelrod's very building? Right again: Cain's latest accuser, Sharon Bialek.
[...]
The reason all this is relevant is that both Axelrod and Daley have a history of smearing political opponents by digging up claims of sexual misconduct against them.
[...]
This time, Obama's little helpers have not only thrown a bomb into the Republican primary, but are hoping to destroy the man who deprives the Democrats of their only argument in 2012: If you oppose Obama, you must be a racist. [Human Events, 11/9/11; Fox Nation, 11/9/11]
... Or Even The Obama Administration ...
The Drudge Report: Accuser “Works In The Obama Administration.” A November 8 Drudge Report headline said that the one of the accusers, Karen Kraushaar, “works in the Obama administration.” [The Drudge Report, 11/8/11, via Media Matters]
The Blaze: “Exposed? ... Accuser Works For The Obama Administration.” On November 8, the Blaze published a post titled, “Exposed? One of Cain's Accusers works for the Obama Administration.” [The Blaze, 11/8/11, via Media Matters]
For the truth about Kraushaar's long-term career in government, SEE HERE.
... But It Was Probably the Liberal Media ...
RedState Post Blames “Media's Obsession With The Penn State Sex Scandal” On “The Fact They Think It Will Hurt Herman Cain.” A November 9 post on the right-wing blog RedState about referendums held in Ohio included the line, “The media's obsession with the Penn State sex scandal can be explained by the fact they think it will hurt Herman Cain.” [RedState, 11/9/11, via Salon]
Wash. Times' Wolf: “The Liberal Media Establishment” Has “Declared An All-Out War On Conservative Republican Candidates.” In a November 9 column, The Washington Times' Milton Wolf claimed that the allegations against Cain are part of “an all-out war on conservative Republican candidates” launched by the “liberal media establishment.” From the column:
Conservatives, brace yourselves. Steel your spines. The liberal media establishment has long since abandoned any pretense of objective reporting. They've declared an all-out war on conservative Republican candidates and it's going to get worse. They know that the unarguably failed presidency of Barack Obama leaves his re-election in serious jeopardy. His best hope is the scorched-Earth personal destruction of his opponents.
A record-high 77 percent of Americans, according to a recent Pew Research Center report, say they think “news organizations tend to favor one side,” which is to say 23 percent of Americans must not be paying attention. Witness the personal attacks on the three conservative front-runners - coincidentally timed during their ascendancy. The left-wing journalists who buried the scandals that led to the impeachment of President Bill Clinton and the indictment of failed presidential hopeful John Edwards, are now going for Republican blood.
[...]
Salacious whisper campaigns were once only whispered. Today, Politico trumpets them in headlines. Allegations made by anonymous sources, thus far noticeably absent any specific allegations, are evidently enough to meet Politico's low journalistic standard. They know (hope?) these attacks could destroy not just a candidacy, but a man's life. Exhibit A is a Politico headline that blogger William Jacobson of Legal Insurrection described as the most misleading headline ever: “Herman Cain allegation: Accuser breaks silence.” The accuser who, according to the story itself, refused to give details of even the nature of the allegations, now “breaks [her] silence.” By that they mean her attorney announced that she wishes to stay silent. Such high standards. [The Washington Times, 11/9/11]
Brent Bozell: “In The Eyes Of The Liberal Media, Herman Cain Is Just Another Uppity Black American.” In a NewsBusters blog post titled, “Stop the High-tech Lynching of Herman Cain,” Media Research Center president Brent Bozell wrote:
Sadly, Herman Cain's predictions have come true. In May he stated that he was “ready for the same high-tech lynching that [Clarence Thomas] went through -- for the good of this country.” That's what Politico is doing with its unsubstantiated and thoroughly hypocritical hit piece against him. Anyone in the press that gives this story oxygen is equally hypocritical.
In the eyes of the liberal media, Herman Cain is just another uppity black American who has had the audacity to leave the liberal plantation. So they must destroy him, just as they tried destroying Clarence Thomas. [NewsBusters, 10/31/11, via Media Matters]
Coulter Blames “Liberal Publication” Politico For Cain Allegations. On the October 30 edition of Fox News' Geraldo at Large, Coulter blamed the “liberal publication” Politico for the emergence of the allegations against Cain. [Fox News, Geraldo at Large, 10/30/11, via RealClearPolitics]
... Unless It Was Those “Left-Wing Nutjobs At Media Matters”
Bolling's “Hunch”: “The Left-Wing Nutjobs At Media Matters” Are Behind The Cain Allegations. During the November 9 edition of Fox News' The Five, Bolling claimed that the sexual harassment allegations against Cain were part of a “systematic taking apart of the right by the left.” When co-host Bob Beckel pressed Bolling to “put some names on the table,” Bolling said: “As soon as we find out who leaked this stuff to Politico, whoever that person or group was, then I'll put the names on the table. But my hunch is, you know, the left-wing nutjobs at Media Matters and all the other lefty blogs” were behind the Cain allegations. [Fox News, The Five, 11/9/11, via Media Matters]
Right-Wing Media Have Relentlessly Defended Cain, Insulted Accuser, And Dismissed Sexual Harassment Charges
Right-Wing Media Defended Cain With Race-Baiting. In defending Cain against the allegations, right-wing media figures have engaged in race-baiting, arguing that Cain is being targeted because he is a “black conservative” and that he is the victim of a “high-tech lynching.” [Media Matters, 11/1/11]
Conservative Media Responded To Cain Accusations By Dismissing Sexual Harassment As “Meaningless.” Following initial reports of the accusations, media conservatives claimed that sexual harassment allegations are often “meaningless” or used as “a political tool.” [Media Matters, 11/3/11]
Right-Wing Media Attacked And Dismissed Cain Accuser Bialek. Right-wing media have responded to the most recent allegation of sexual harassment against Cain by insulting, mocking, and dismissing the accuser, with Fox News' Dick Morris stating, “I look forward to her spread in Playboy.” [Media Matters, 11/8/11]