Bigoted radio host Michael Savage, who said Trump made him “more proud to be an American,” has lost faith

Trump and members of his administration have called Savage regularly for years to receive sycophantic praise

Written by Pam Vogel

Published


Sarah Wasko / Media Matters

In the midst of an ongoing and unprecedented presidential war on the mainstream press, President Donald Trump has relied heavily on a handful of sycophantic fringe media outlets to unquestioningly push his message and offer him unconditional praise. One of Trump’s favorite radio shows for this purpose was Michael Savage’s The Savage Nation -- until now.

On his September 7 show, host Savage delivered a several-minute monologue disparaging the president for working with Democrat leadership. Savage declared that Trump had adhered to “the exact opposite points of everything we voted for” and acknowledged that his opposition to the president would “cost [him] personally.”  

Savage heavily supported Trump “from the get-go,” coupling overwhelming praise for Trump with vitriolic hate rhetoric on a daily basis and sometimes taking credit for inspiring Trump’s campaign messaging. Savage and Trump were often partners in broadcasting an alternate reality -- where the world is a scary place that can be saved only by a heroic and charming Trump -- to 10 million listeners each day.

Savage is a bigoted conspiracy theorist known for his extreme positions, including his recent call for “World War II-style internment camps” following the London terror attack. He has previously called for “kill[ing] 100 million” Muslims, was one of the first right-wing media figures to openly and repeatedly question then-President Barack Obama's birthplace and religion, and has a history of promoting bizarre conspiracy theories about murder and diseases. Savage hosted a weekend show on MSNBC in 2003, when he was fired after he referred to an on-air caller as a “sodomite” and told the caller to “get AIDS and die.”   

Trump made his first appearance on Savage's radio show in 2011 to discuss whether he would ever run for president. Since Trump formally declared his presidential candidacy in June 2015, he’s appeared on The Savage Nation at least 16 times, including on Election Day, to participate in acts of performative mutual admiration with the host. Members of the Trump administration have also appeared on the show several times this year to push conservative talking points about health care, the Paris climate agreement, and foreign policy matters.

Trump repeatedly called sycophant Savage during his presidential candidacy and was heaped with unfettered praise

June 19, 2015: Three days after declaring his candidacy for president, Trump called in to The Savage Nation and received unbridled praise. In the summer of 2015, three days after Donald Trump announced that he would run for president, he called in to The Savage Nation to talk to Savage, who said he supported him “from the get-go.” “You know that the best and the brightest generally don’t go into politics, you being the exception,” Savage said to Trump. Trump spent a large chunk of the 16-minute interview -- which aired just two days after a white supremacist killed nine black parishioners in Charleston, SC -- talking about topics like his charitable donations, business net worth, ratings of his reality TV show The Apprentice, time at the Wharton School at University of Pennsylvania, and feelings about right-wing pundits like George Will. From the June 19, 2015, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Donald, when you announced this week, I watched the little people -- the Lilliputians -- attack you. You know what I called them? I said they’re toe dust compared to him. I saw these little men and little women trying to rip you apart and I said they are toe dust. That’s all they are. They’re jealous of this man. And there’s a lot of jealousy for successful people, as you well know, Donald. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 6/19/15, 6/19/15]

July 29, 2015: Trump joined Savage on his radio show to vent about “disgraceful” criticism of his early presidential campaign, fundraise. Trump called in to The Savage Nation at the end of July 2015 to talk with Savage about the “disgraceful” criticism he’d already received as a presidential candidate and to compare “embarrassing” foreign policy decisions by the Obama administration to dealmaking in his book Art of the Deal. Here’s the beginning of the segment, from the July 29, 2015, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I am not a journalist. I’m a talk show host. I have opinions. I’m biased. Period, end of story. The rest of them all are biased. They don’t tell you that, though. I’m for Trump. Point-bank. Best choice we have. Donald Trump joins us right now on The Savage Nation. Donald, thank you for being with us. What’s on your mind today?

DONALD TRUMP: An honor. That’s an amazing honor for you to say that -- is tremendous. I appreciate it, Michael.

SAVAGE: But Donald, why should I hide it? I mean, people make believe that they’re not biased. You know and I know the media’s biased one way or the other. They all pretend that they’re scientists in a laboratory with a pipette in their mouth. They’re all biased; they all have an axe to grind. Look what they’re doing to you: smearing you every day with lies. Garbage, pure garbage. Where they let Obama get away with virtual murder, give the bomb to Iran. Why is the media not saying one word about what Obama is doing to wreck this nation, Mr. Trump?

TRUMP: Well he is doing a terrible job. He’s been a terrible president. The person that likes him most, I always say, is Jimmy Carter because Jimmy’s now number two. And it’s incredible. It’s absolutely incredible. And you know, I see -- Michael, it’s been for a long time I’ve heard you cannot be a very successful person and run for office, especially for president, and I really see it now. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 7/29/15, 7/29/15]

September 2, 2015: “How the heck do you maintain your stamina, Donald?” In a September phone interview on The Savage Nation, Savage and Trump doted on one another and, at the end of the interview, discussed Trump’s campaigning “stamina” and Savage’s hopes to head the National Institutes of Health in a Trump administration. From the September 2, 2015, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): People are saying Trump’s running hot right now, but it’s a long race. It’s over a year to go. But you’re engaged in this campaign every second, every day. No one knows how you get the energy for it, god bless you, but they’re saying that you’re going to peak, you’re going to drop out. How the heck do you maintain your stamina, Donald? Is there a secret?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, maybe it’s good genes. I don’t know exactly what it is. I’m energized and I’ve been that way for my life. And it’s mostly because I enjoy what I do and I see a lot of progress. You know, maybe if I were number 17 in the polls or number 15 in the polls, or you know some of these guys have actually zero. That means out of thousands of people that are polled, they have nobody who said, you know, they’d vote for them. And at some point they’re going to start dropping out. And maybe if I were number 15 I wouldn’t feel so much stamina. But it’s nice to be number one and, really, number one by a lot. So we’ll see--

SAVAGE: You are, by a huge margin. You’ve struck a cord. People are trying to explain it, the very people who attacked you in the beginning are now suddenly coming around saying, ‘Well, maybe he’s not so bad,’ because they’re hedging their bets that you just might win. I feel you will win if you sustain it. And the only thing I ask out of the support for you is simple: I only want to run the NIH and I want to clean up the science and medical establishments in America, which are as corrupt as you can imagine. They’re doing no basic science. Medicine has been corrupted by politics. Instead of producing scientific reports everything has to have something to do with global warming in it or gender identity.

TRUMP: True.

SAVAGE: We have a problem -- at every level of this country has a problem and it wasn’t started by Obama but I hope it’s ended by Donald Trump.

TRUMP: Well, you’re going to see a lot of things happen. If I win, you’re going to see a lot of things happen. And you know, my theme is ‘Make America Great Again.’ That’s what’s going to happen, Michael. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 9/2/15]

October 6, 2015: “You already make me more proud to be an American … I feel proud for what I’ve achieved because of you, Donald.” In an October phone interview on The Savage Nation, Trump told Savage he had met Vladimir Putin “one time” a “long time ago” and that he “got along with him great,” a statement he later contradicted multiple times. Trump and Savage then paused their talk about foreign policy to trade a series of over-the-top compliments. Savage said that Trump made him “more proud to be an American” and “proud for what I’ve achieved,” and Trump responded that Savage has “done an amazing job” and has “been really nice to me.” Savage again asked if Trump would consider appointing him to head the National Institute of Health (NIH), to which Trump responded, “I think that’s great,” and that  “you’d get common sense if that were the case.” The interview ended with Savage telling Trump he hoped to see him at Mar-a-Lago. From the October 6, 2015, edition of The Savage Nation:

DONALD TRUMP: You would be so happy. If I win this thing, you will be so proud of this country, Michael. I’ll tell you what.

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Well you know, I’ve got to tell you, Donald: On a personal level, you already make me hopeful. You already make me more proud to be an American. And you’ve given me something personal that you don’t even know. I’ve worked very hard as an immigrant’s son to achieve what I have. And as you know, my family has worked very hard. They’ve achieved a lot. But we’ve had to hide it under the Democrat-Socialist machine. We’ve almost had to apologize for having succeeded, for working so hard. I feel proud for what I’ve achieved because of you, Donald. Because you’re willing to stand up and say you’re proud of what you’ve achieved, you make me willing to stand up and say that. Do you know that you’ve had a positive effect already?

TRUMP: Well, that’s very nice for you to say that. And you’ve done an amazing job, and I look at your ratings and I look at you, just you, and you’ve been a special guy. You’ve been amazing. And you’ve been really nice to me and I appreciate it. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 10/6/15]

November 18, 2015: Trump and Savage made up after Savage briefly criticized Trump: “Your show has always been good. You’ve always been good to me.” Trump called in to The Savage Nation in November 2015 after Savage had criticized Trump for comparing Ben Carson, then a competitor in the GOP primary, to a “child molester.” The two men quickly buried the hatchet, with Savage praising Trump for coming back on the show (“a bigger man than I am”) and both of them laughing and teasing one another about the attacks they’ve launched on others. Savage also asked Trump how he gets the “energy” to campaign: “How do you do this? Is it the meatloaf?” From the November 18, 2015, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I thought that after I criticized you on-air -- and I did it as delicately as I could -- that I wouldn’t be eating lettuce at Mar-a-Lago ever again. But I’m glad to see that you’re a bigger man than I am, and you came back on the show because you can take criticism. And, by the way, that’s more than what most politicians are willing to do, Donald. You know and I know that most politicians are so thin-skinned that if you dare say one word about them that they don’t agree with, they excommunicate you. And you did not do that with me, I’ve got to tell you that.

DONALD TRUMP: No. Look, I understand that you weren’t happy about that but, your show has always been good. You’ve always been good to me, other than the last couple of weeks -- you didn’t like what I said. But at some point -- why, are you a noncompetitive person? You wouldn’t do it? You would’ve done it five times worse than I did it, OK?

SAVAGE: [laughter] If I were in your place and I had a chance to knock Carson? I think that what gets you about Carson is that he acts like such a nice -- I think what was getting your goat, looking back, knowing kind of a little bit more about you as you have evolved on the campaign trail, is that you didn’t like him getting away with that he’s such a nice guy, and so sort of unaggressive when under the surface you’re saying there’s a monster lurking under the surface. Is that sort of what it was?

TRUMP: He’s got some deficiencies and they’re pretty big and I wanted to let him know. And you understand that. You would’ve been worse than me, I’m telling you, OK? I know you too well, Michael. You know, you’re trying to be this nice guy, don’t hit -- since when don’t you hit people hard?

SAVAGE: [laughter]

TRUMP: By the way, if you didn’t hit people hard, your show wouldn’t be the success it is either. So, always good to do your show, you know that.

[...]

SAVAGE: How do you -- where do you get the energy from? How do you do this? Over the years that I’ve been in the radio, people have said, “Run for office.” I don’t have the energy for it. I can do the show. How do you do this? Is it the meatloaf? What is it?  [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 11/18/15]

January 11, 2016: Savage told Trump he believed “Hispanics are going to vote” for him because “Hispanic culture is a macho culture” and “men don’t like reporting to a woman.” Trump joined Savage in January 2016 to discuss his appeal to African American and Hispanic voters, as well as his supposed popularity with women. Savage remarked to Trump that “the reason Hispanics are going to vote for you -- and I'll say it, I'm not going to ask you -- is because, to be honest, and it's very clear, the Hispanic culture is a macho culture. Men don't like reporting to a woman. It's just the way the culture is. And they'd rather have a man than a woman as president.” The interview ended, again, with Savage and Trump talking about seeing each other at Mar-a-Lago soon and thanking one another for support. From the January 11, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Donald, I won’t take up any more of your time. I want to thank you for being on The Savage Nation. I hope to see you back here as soon as possible. Good luck in every one of your campaigns. I hope to share some Cobb salad with you, and meatloaf, at Mar-a-Lago.

DONALD TRUMP: I love that idea, and we’ll see you soon. We’ll talk to you soon, Michael. I appreciate your support. You’ve been so amazing. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 1/11/16]

January 26, 2016: “You have been an original backer from a long time ago and I appreciate it, Michael, and I’ll never forget it.” Weeks after his last appearance on The Savage Nation, Trump called in to the show again to talk with Savage about Megyn Kelly and primary debates. Savage also recommended that Trump appoint Sen. Tom Cotton (R-AR) as his defense secretary, saying he’ll recommend him again after Trump wins and Savage becomes part of his “kitchen cabinet” of advisers. Savage ended the interview, again, by reminding Trump he’d supported him “from the day you started” and saying he admired Trump because “you never forget your friends.” From the January 26, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation (emphasis added):

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Donald, before you go -- I’ve been backing you from the day you started. We have nothing in common, meaning we don’t have business together. We don’t do business together. There is no deals (sic) between us. I just want the best for America. I want a winner. I want someone who can take on ISIS, I want someone who can defeat China in negotiations, I want Mexico to stop flooding us with immigrants. Now we have the Zita (sic) virus coming in from South America. This is insanity, Donald. You’re the only candidate who can do this. And I know women -- smart women, business women who are very wealthy, built their own business, Donald -- every one of them, some of them are even liberals, are backing you. Do you know that?

DONALD TRUMP: I think it’s so great. I think we’re going to do even better than the poll numbers are showing. I hope. You know a lot of people are saying that, where the polls are so great but we may do better. But who knows? We have to see. Hey look, I’m working hard and a lot of people are working hard and we have such great support, but we still have to get there and I don’t want to take anything for granted. I always like to say there’s a long way to go. But I will say this, just to finish off: If I get there, you will be very proud. And you have been an original backer from a long time ago and I appreciate it, Michael, and I’ll never forget it.

SAVAGE: I know you don’t. That’s something people don’t understand about you and they don’t understand about the winning personality -- is that you never forget your friends and you never forget those who put knives in your back. Donald Trump, all I can say is my audience is 98 percent behind you. I’m sorry it’s that low, but I’ll work on the other two percent over the coming weeks.  

TRUMP: That’s great. Well, you are a great guy and I really appreciate it. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 1/26/16]

February 1, 2016: Trump called in to The Savage Nation on Iowa caucus day: “You’ve been so incredible to me and I really appreciate it.” On the day of the 2016 Iowa caucuses, Trump called in to The Savage Nation to get some signature praise “9.2 minutes” before he was set to give a speech. From the February 1, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Doctor Trump, you’re the doctor that we need to heal America.

DONALD TRUMP: Amazing, Michael. It’s been an amazing period of time. And I mean, I’m in Iowa right now. In fact, I’m going to make a speech in about 9.2 minutes but I said I have to take Michael before I get up. I mean, I have to speak to you. You’ve been so supportive and I want to thank you, Michael.  

SAVAGE: Well, I wish I could say the same about my fellow, let us say, travelers in the conservative universe. I don’t know what they’re thinking. You’re the only hope we have. Everyone I know who is worth anything in the world -- and doesn’t matter whether they’re rich or poor, worth something in terms of brains -- is going to vote for you, loves you.  [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 2/1/16]

February 8, 2016: Ahead of New Hampshire primary, Trump “turned down big, big, big interviews in order to talk to my man, to Michael.” Trump called in to The Savage Nation the following week, ahead of the New Hampshire primary race. During the interview, he told Savage that he had “turned down big, big, big interviews in order to talk to my man, to Michael.” Savage, in turn, listed a series of real estate accomplishments he attributed to Trump, naming various parts of midtown Manhattan he believes are better because of Trump’s influence and commenting, “I don’t care if people say I’m being too nice to you.” Savage ended the interview by advising Trump not to “go soft” and remarking that “the people need a strong, alpha male leader.” From the beginning of the February 8, 2016, segment on The Savage Nation:

DONALD TRUMP: One thing about you, Michael: You’re a very consistent person, like me.

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): That’s right. And that’s why people don’t like us. In a world of malleable, changeable positions, we are like mountains, Donald. And they don’t like mountains. They want to grind us down into sand.

TRUMP: True. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 2/8/16]

February 15, 2016: Trump joined Savage to lament the unfair “set-up” Trump faced during a GOP primary debate and discuss Scalia death conspiracy theories. The following week, Trump appeared on The Savage Nation again, and he seemed to entertain Savage’s conspiracy theories about the death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia. Trump himself commented about a “pretty unusual” detail reported about the justice’s death. Trump and Savage also took some time to complain about a GOP primary debate they thought was a “set-up” to make Trump look bad. From the February 15, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

DONALD TRUMP: It’s amazing, actually, Michael. I’ve always dealt with people that -- I’ve had some real bad ones in my life -- but I haven’t seen people like this that would lie to this extent and then you also see the way that room was set up the other night where everybody in the room -- and I heard I won the debate and everybody tells me I won -- but the room was such a set-up. It was ridiculous. All the --

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Every time you said a word you got booed. What, were they all [Sen. Ted] Cruz [(R-TX)] supporters? [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 2/15/16; Media Matters, 2/16/16]

March 1, 2016: Trump, “the most important candidate in modern American history,” called in to The Savage Nation on Super Tuesday to explain why he is “the least racist person of all the candidates.” Trump appeared on The Savage Nation for “a super interview” on Super Tuesday, kicking off the interview by attempting to distance himself from his move not to immediately disavow David Duke’s endorsement in a CNN interview that aired the previous day. Savage immediately explained that he already knew that Trump was “the least racist person of all the candidates.” Savage also said that the public ought to compare Trump’s wife and Sen. Marco Rubio’s (R-FL) wife to understand which candidate had larger hands, prompting Trump to chuckle. The interview ended with Savage saying he will see Trump “tonight at Mar-a-Lago.” From the March 1, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): The most important candidate in modern American history, Donald Trump, live right now on The Savage Nation. Mr. Trump, thanks so much for taking the time on Super Tuesday to give us a super interview with you on The Savage Nation.

DONALD TRUMP: Right. Thanks, Michael.

SAVAGE: Donald, I want to put something to rest. I know that you’re the least racist person of all of the candidates. I know it from your employees, I know it from your history. But you’ve also been smeared continuously with this KKK garbage. And I know you’ve denounced it. Can you clearly say that you denounce this endorsement on The Savage Nation?

TRUMP: Yeah. Totally denounce. And I disavowed it. And I’ve disavowed it numerous times. And I’ve disavowed it on Twitter and on Facebook, and all over the place. But people refuse to accept it, Michael, because --

SAVAGE: Donald, I accept it because I know your history. It’s a disgrace that [Sen. Marco] Rubio would fall to this level. But it tells us more about him than it does about anyone else. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 3/1/16]

March 7, 2016: “Donald, how do you take such abuse?” A week later, Trump joined Savage on air to complain about “liars” in media attacking his business ventures. “People don’t understand business,” Savage said. “I made billions and billions of dollars,” Trump replied. “I started off with very, very little.” Savage concluded the interview by saying, “I hope you can come back to The Savage Nation and you don’t forget me when you become president.” Trump responded that he would “never forget” Savage. From the March 7, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Before you go, Donald. You’re a businessman. People don’t understand business. Socialists like Bernie Sanders who never ran a corned beef stand don’t understand that business means some businesses succeed and some fail. So what they do, like the creeps at the [New York] Daily News, they come up with some of your ventures that didn’t work, they try to make it look like you’re a crook or a bad businessman. What they don’t understand is that business is a gamble. Some businesses work, some fail. Isn’t that true?

DONALD TRUMP: But my businesses really worked. And the ones-- they have these little things, number one they’re still in business. I don’t even know what they mean. They talk about a water company, they talk about these different things, I still have them. But my businesses work. I never even saw the thing in the Daily News. I mean the good news, I guess not a lot of people read the Daily News but my businesses worked. Hey Michael, I made billions and billions and billions of dollars. I started off with very, very little. And I made billions and billions of dollars --

SAVAGE: And that’s something that the college class of spoiled, inheritance cases don’t understand. Guys who say you inherited the money from your father. I happen to know from having read everything I could about you and your great father was he didn’t give you a lot of money. He have you an initial seed loan, which you paid back. Your father was a great man, yet they even smeared him. Here’s a man who built apartment houses all over middle-class Brooklyn and Queens, and they made him into a bad guy for doing it. So what more can you expect from these people? They’ve never built a thing in their life, Donald.

TRUMP: No, they’re bad people, Michael. And they’re liars. They’re real liars. And it’s a shame, it’s a shame they can get away with it. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 3/7/16]

March 22, 2016: Savage and Trump discussed Brussels airport bombings: “You are a hundred percent right.” Shortly after two ISIS-perpetrated deadly explosions in an airport and metro station in Brussels, Belgium, killed at least 31 people and injured hundreds more, Trump joined Savage on air to talk about how he was “100 percent right” to call for a Muslim ban in the U.S. Savage also asked Trump if he would consider closing mosques in the U.S. as president. From the beginning of the March 22, 2016, interview on The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Donald, we're only interested in one question, and I heard some of your Today interview today, and that is the Islamo-fascist attack in Belgium. I know that you are shown to be 100 percent right by this attack when you said that you wouldn't admit anymore Muslims into the United States until we “figure this thing out.” You were 100 percent right. But here's the question, Donald. What would you do about the radical mosques in America? Would you agree right now on The Savage Nation that you will consider closing the radical mosques in America? Because even liberal France has been doing this since the Paris terror attacks. I have to repeat this: Liberal, socialist France, even they have closed about 20 radical mosques because they decided that they want to live. Mr. Trump, what do you think should be done?

DONALD TRUMP: Well, we have to have tremendous surveillance, and that includes the mosques whether we like it or don't like it. We have to be intelligent people. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 3/22/16]

March 28, 2016: “America sees you as the greatest chance to protect us.” Days before the Wisconsin primary, Trump called Savage to deny allegations that his campaign had planted false stories about Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) in the National Enquirer. Savage opened the segment by congratulating Trump on the birth of his grandchild, then said that Trump’s role as a grandfather makes Americans see him “as the greatest chance to protect us.” Here is the beginning of the March 28, 2016, interview on The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Here he is, the great man himself, Donald Trump. Welcome to The Savage Nation. Donald, thanks so much for being with us and, by the way, congratulations on the birth of your newest grandchild.

DONALD TRUMP: Absolutely, that’s great. Really happy about it.

SAVAGE: Donald, I know what it feels like to be a grandparent. I know how protective it makes the grandfather, and I suppose that’s why your popularity has swelled. Personally, I think because America sees you as the greatest chance to protect us, in plain English. You know, for the big issue, Donald, I know you’ve disavowed any connection to these allegations against Ted Cruz and his alleged affairs. But let’s be clear. You’ve had more mud thrown at you than all of the other candidates put together. You’ve been smeared like I’ve never seen anyone smeared before. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 3/28/16]

April 4, 2016: Trump took to The Savage Nation to complain about media treating him “horribly,” and Savage implored Trump to “listen to The Savage Nation, not to the campaign.” Trump joined Savage again the day before the Wisconsin primary to complain about media treating him “horribly” and “unfairly.” In several lengthy responses, Trump talked about the poor treatment he believed he’d received from the media and specifically The Wall Street Journal, Fox News, and Megyn “Mad Dog” Kelly. Savage also asked Trump not to let advisers on his campaign “moderate” his extreme positions on immigration and the Muslim community, and said, “I’m almost imploring you to listen to The Savage Nation, not to the campaign advisers.” From the April 4, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Everyone’s saying you don’t have specific plans, but the fact of the matter is I’ve asked you specific questions over the last three months. I’ve gotten specific answers. They don’t want to hear it when you give specific answers. They make believe you’re not giving them. So, what’s the point of answering them if they make believe you’re not answering them? I know where you’re coming from. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 4/4/16, 4/4/16]

April 18, 2016: On the eve of the New York primary, Savage and Trump playfully argued about which of them is more important. Trump appeared on The Savage Nation on the eve of the New York primary to criticize Trump's political opponents in Republican primaries (and Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton). Savage also repeatedly attempted to imply Trump’s positions were influenced by Savage’s books -- to lukewarm response. Savage also asked Trump, “In the face of all the insults and all those who are trying to tear you down, including those inside the Republican Party themselves, what do you use to maintain your inner strength?” Trump seemed to answer that poll numbers and anticipated votes help. This is how Savage began the April 18, 2016, interview on The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Without further adieu, the man of the hour, Donald Trump. Welcome to the program, Mr. Trump.  

DONALD TRUMP: Thank you, Michael, and you have been amazing. But wouldn’t you maybe be the most important man, above me? Perhaps? Powerful voice --

SAVAGE: [laughs] Now I know that they’ve tempered you, Donald. Somebody behind the scenes is starting to temper you a little bit. You’re giving me a compliment -- that’s a good sign.

TRUMP: It’s been amazing. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 4/18/16]

April 29, 2016: Trump called Savage to hear a sympathetic voice after his appearance at a state GOP event was heavily protested. Immediately after protesters forced Trump to use a rear entrance to arrive at a state GOP event where he spoke, Trump called The Savage Nation for a sympathetic ear. After Savage welcomed Trump to the show by congratulating him for surviving “the assault today” (protests), the two launched into a series of attacks on Trump’s opponents in the primaries. Savage then praised Trump for his dog-whistling “America First” speech and allowed Trump to pivot to a series of talking points defending his foreign policy stance and describing his relationship with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Trump said, “Wouldn’t it be great if we got along with Russia? You know, Putin said very nice things about me. It has zero influence -- he actually called me a genius, but that’s OK -- has zero influence on me, Michael. Zero.” This is how Savage began the April 29, 2016, conversation with Trump:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Mr. Trump, welcome. You survived the assault today.

DONALD TRUMP: How are you?

SAVAGE: Donald, how do you put up with this? How do you feel having to sneak into an event in the United States of America when illegitimate noncitizens try to block you? What does that do to you? [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 4/29/16]

June 1, 2016: Savage regaled Trump with a story about how he defended Trump in a conversation with a “major-league guy” who claimed to be Trump’s “friend.” Trump appeared on The Savage Nation again on June 1, 2016, to talk with Savage about the “dishonest” press and China. At one point, Savage told Trump that he had recently appeared on a TV show in which a person who apparently said he was Trump’s “friend” criticized Trump in front of Savage, but Savage defended Trump. Savage wouldn’t reveal the name of the person on air, but he told Trump he would email Trump communications staffer Hope Hicks with the information. The two then discussed the “dishonest” media’s efforts to vet Trump’s assertions that he had raised millions of dollars for veterans’ groups. Trump ended the interview by telling Savage that he met a “tremendously successful” businesswoman who apparently told Trump she loved The Savage Nation. From the June 1, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I was on a TV show last week and a guy said to me, “Why do you support Donald Trump? He wants to make America great again. What does he want to do, take us back to slavery and the Great Depression?” I said, “What, are you crazy? What does that have to do with today?” And you know, that’s how crazy they are in the press. This was a major-league guy who said he was your friend, Donald, I swear to God. He said, “What, does Donald want to take us back to slavery?” I said, “What, are you nuts?” This is what we’re dealing with.

DONALD TRUMP: So somebody that said he was my friend? That’s interesting. Am I allowed to know who it was? That’s amazing.

SAVAGE: I’ll tell you what. I will email Hope Hicks the interview and the name. He said, “I like Donald. He’s my friend. But where does he want to take us? Back to slavery? The Great Depression, where women can’t vote?” I said, “What, are you nuts? How could you bring him up -- how could you say he’s saying that?” This is the kind of absurd argument that we’re getting from people who really have it in for this country, Donald. I faced it for 20 years. You’re facing it now for a year. It’s sickening, frankly. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 6/1/16]

July 14, 2016: Trump called in to Savage Nation the day before he announced his vice presidential pick and told Savage he listens to the show. The day before announcing Indiana Gov. Mike Pence as his vice presidential running mate, Trump appeared on The Savage Nation to reassure Savage he was dedicated to his “base” at the program. Trump and Savage discussed the shooting deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile (but did not use either man’s name) and Trump said that he was familiar with what Savage thought about the “events” because he listened to Savage’s show. Savage then asked Trump if he would consider inducting Savage into the National Radio Hall of Fame in November, and Trump dodged the question. Savage again offered to head the NIH “for a dollar a year” in the Trump administration, before ending the interview by advocating for Trump to pick Pence as his running mate. From the July 14, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Everyone is so thrilled that you came back to the show, and I’m an honest guy in the media. I kind of say it like I feel. I don’t think as carefully as I should somehow. But the fact is people were saying, “Hey, where’s Donald Trump? Now that he’s so popular, he won’t come back. He’s moved to the center.” I said, “No, no, no. Just wait. He’ll be back. He’s true to his core.” So, again, I have to say that’s what they’re saying now all over my Facebook. “Thank God Trump is back.” And, yesterday you said you were going to build the wall. You confirmed that again, correct?

DONALD TRUMP: Oh, a hundred percent. And it is so very popular, we put it in the platform. It’s in the Republican platform, I don’t know if you saw that, but that was sort of one of the things that I’m very proud of. We did something else for the Evangelicals which is going to be fantastic. We’re going to get rid of this Johnson change that was made years ago where it takes the power away from Evangelicals and others of religion. And you’ll see some things happening there that are going to be very good. We have some very good things put in the platform. One of the things put in, though, is the wall. And as far as being back here, you’ve been so amazing to me, Michael. Of course I would be back. I never heard anything, otherwise I would have called you five different times already.

SAVAGE: You know what it is, Donald? Look, your campaign has gotten so big. You’ve got so many layers of people. I don’t have the desire to trouble you with calls. But the fact of the matter is I know that you’re loyal to this audience. We are your base. We’ll always be there for you. And the times right now are so troubled. We are in such troubled times, such dangerous water. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 7/14/16, 7/14/16]

August 17, 2016: Savage told Trump, “I have not gone everywhere. I’ve been in your corner even when I couldn’t reach you.” Last August, Trump called in to The Savage Nation again to talk with his “old friend” Savage. Savage assured Trump that, even though they didn’t always stay in touch because Trump was busy campaigning, Savage was always in Trump’s “corner” and “loved” his recent speech about an “ideology test, an extreme vetting process” for Muslims trying to immigrate to the U.S. From the August 17, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Mr. Trump?

DONALD TRUMP: Yes?

SAVAGE: How are you? I’m your old friend -- remember me, Michael Savage?

TRUMP: Oh, absolutely, Michael. How is Michael?

SAVAGE: I have not gone anywhere. I’ve been in your corner even when I couldn’t reach you. I’m so glad that you’re surging in the polls.

[...]

SAVAGE: I loved your speech the other day about foreign policy. I loved your idea of an ideology test, an extreme vetting process. I love stopping the nation building. This is what I think the people want -- I mean, they’re thirsting for this kind of leadership.  [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 8/17/16, 8/17/16]

September 19, 2016: “You're the only man who could save us from this insanity. We need you, Donald. You’ve got to become president.” In September, Trump called in to The Savage Nation again to hear praise from Savage and discuss his plans to use “profiling” of Muslims. Savage also repeatedly offered to say things he felt Trump could no longer say freely because “the rats in the media could use [it] against” him and assured Trump that “the American people hate the people in the media.” From the September 19, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Look, Donald, I don’t want you to say anything that any of the rats in the media could use against you. They’re the most vicious people I have ever seen. But in addition to being vicious, I have never seen attacks against the candidate of the type I am seeing against you. But want to hear the good news? The American people hate the people in the media. Their ratings are the lowest in history because they know they’re liars, Donald. So all we can say is, don’t let them intimidate you. Not that I think you would be intimidated by the likes of those people, but they are trying to smear you simply for stating the obvious and the truth.

DONALD TRUMP: Well thank you, Michael, for that. And I’ll tell you they are horrible, horrible people, many of them. They’re liars and they’re horrible people. The media is among the dishonest -- the most dishonest group of people I’ve ever met, and I don’t mean all of them but I mean a lot of them. And it’s unbelievable what they do, how they can take things that are perfect and just twist them around. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 9/19/16]

October 17, 2016: “It’s life under Trump and death under Clinton.” Trump joined Savage in October to talk about his perception that the presidential election would be “rigged” and to criticize Clinton. Trump and Savage also discussed Trump’s views on Russia, and Trump said he would meet with Putin before his inauguration if he were elected. Savage told Trump he was “the only thing we have left between us and pure anarchy,” and he opened and closed the segment by reiterating that he believed “it’s life under Trump and death under Clinton.” and From the October 17, 2016, edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I say it’s life under Trump and death under Clinton. And I mean the death of our First and Second Amendments, for sure. Mr. Trump, you are the only thing we have left between us and pure anarchy.

DONALD TRUMP: Well, it’s going very well. I guess polls just came out from CNN an hour ago and they have us up by four in Ohio and doing really well everywhere, and this despite the press that’s horrible, phony. They print lies; they want to put lies on all the time. And you see it better than anybody. They have stories that are fabricated and they put them on the front page. Total lies that they’re willing to print on the front page of newspapers. And despite --

SAVAGE: Donald, where do they get all of these tarts from? Where do these tarts come from?

TRUMP: Michael, there’s a backlash like I’ve never seen before. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 10/17/16]

November 8, 2016: Trump called Savage on Election Day for a “beautiful interchange,” and Savage thanked him for his “loyalty.” On Election Day, Trump called in to The Savage Nation and spoke about his “message” to Americans and his “movement.” The two men thanked each other for their “loyalty,” and Savage also asked Trump, yet again, if they would be seeing each other at Mar-a-Lago. Savage also said that, if Trump won, he would “know in my own heart I had something to do with it.” Savage concluded the interview by calling Trump “the greatest warrior I have seen fighting for the American people.” From the November 8, 2016, interview on The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): Donald, we’re getting calls on the show today in this first hour, with people I asked them what they would like to say to you. And overwhelmingly they’re saying win, lose, or draw you’ve already done the country a great service. You have changed the national conversation, Donald. You know that, don’t you?  

DONALD TRUMP: Well, I really appreciate. I’ve had thank yous from so many people. You know, it’s a vicious business. I used to think real estate was vicious. Real estate people are like soft people compared to these [unintelligible] for the last year and a half.

SAVAGE: [laughter] I can just imagine. I can just imagine. So after this election -- first of all, Donald, I want to thank you personally for showing your loyalty to me personally. I know that you’re not doing a lot of national radio shows today. I know you wanted to come onto The Savage Nation because, in many ways, we had you on before anyone else did on a regular basis, and I know your loyalty is very important to you. I told the people that you’re the most loyal politician I’ve ever encountered in this business. So again, I want to thank you for that. Period.

TRUMP: Well thank you, Michael. And you’ve been loyal also, and I did want to do your show. And I have done very, very little today because I’m sort of sitting back and seeing what happens. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 11/8/16]

Trump administration officials have been using Savage’s show for pushing talking points

January 6, 2017: Then-Trump adviser Boris Epshteyn called in to The Savage Nation to talk about the inauguration, saying, “I’m a big fan.” Weeks before Trump’s inauguration, Boris Epshteyn, then an adviser to Trump’s transition team, came on the show to talk with Savage about logistics for the event. At the start of the interview, Epshteyn told Savage he was a “big fan.” Savage spent the majority of the short interview asking Epshteyn pointed questions about why he hadn’t been invited to cover the inauguration as a member of the media, and pressing Epshteyn for more details about the setup for media coverage of the Inauguration. From the January 6 edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): With us is a really special guest, and his name is Boris Epshteyn. … He is a fabulous political strategist and he lives in New York City and he has a political view that you can summarize in six words: small government, low taxes, and national security. OK. Mr. Epshteyn, welcome to The Savage Nation. Thanks for being with us.

BORIS EPSHTEYN: Thank you so much for having me. I really appreciate it. It’s great to be on. I’m a big fan.

SAVAGE: [laughter] Oh, I’m glad to hear you even know who I am, because -- who compiled the guest list for the inauguration?

EPSHTEYN: Well, it’s a long process but there are a lot of -- so many Americans reaching out, wanting to take part, and we’re inviting anybody and everybody from all over this beautiful country to come and celebrate with us, be with us, be united with us, and celebrate this peaceful transfer of power with us.

[...]

SAVAGE: On another point, who in the media is given the VIP treatment at the -- if media people can go, right, they can be sent by NBC, CBS, Fox News, they have their own place, right?

EPSHTEYN: Well, there’s a credentialing process. And that process is undertaken by a part of my team, actually, here in the communications department. And we are giving every network, every broadcast, every outlet equal opportunity. So we’re not playing favorites here.

SAVAGE: So what if I wanted to go? Michael Savage, who -- I did a lot to help Mr. Trump all those months and no one believed in him, how would I get on that list?

EPSHTEYN: You’d send me an email. And --

SAVAGE: [laughter] I’m sending you an email? I don’t know, look, I don’t want to put you on the spot, but I have not been invited, Mr. Epshteyn, and I didn’t push either. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 1/6/17]

March 1, 2017: Vice President Pence called in to The Savage Nation after Trump’s address to Congress, telling Savage that Trump “appreciates and respects and admires” him. Vice President Mike Pence joined Savage the day after Trump’s first address to a joint session of Congress. Savage told Pence he was “totally moved” by Trump’s speech. Pence pushed the administration’s stance on health care and  “criminal illegal immigrants.” Savage then told Pence about his conversation with Trump at Mar-a-Lago over ice cream, and Pence responded that he knew how much Trump “appreciated and respects and admires” Savage. From the March 1 edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I had the great honor of being at Mar-a-Lago 10 days ago on a Saturday night when the president appeared. I was hoping he'd be there. I didn't think I'd get so much as a handshake or a hello. But I was lucky enough to be invited to have dessert with the President Trump and he sat with me for over 60 minutes. I thought it was a few minutes. My wife said, “You know you were there over 60 minutes with Donald eating dessert,” and I said, “I know. I don't eat dessert but I did for him because I couldn't say no to vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrup even though I haven't had it since I'm a child.” He is exactly what he sounds like. He doesn't change privately or publicly as you said. He's a very honest man. He is what he looks like and he believes every word he says.



MIKE PENCE: That's such a great comment. And I know how much he appreciates and respects and admires you and your voice in the national debate. But I love you reflecting on that. I got asked on a couple of TV shows this morning about a difference and the different in tone of the speech and I told people that the president who spoke at the podium last night is the president that I serve with every day. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 3/1/17]

June 1, 2017: EPA head Scott Pruitt joined Savage to talk about “fake science” on climate change as the Trump administration pulled out of the Paris climate agreement, and Savage said, “Please tell the president that we all applaud what he has done today.” As the Trump administration faced significant criticism for announcing that the U.S. was withdrawing from the Paris climate agreement, Environmental Protection Agency head Scott Pruitt called in to The Savage Nation and entertained Savage’s conspiracy theories about “fake science” on climate change. Savage ended the interview by thanking Pruitt and telling him to “tell the president we all applaud what he has done today.” From the June 1 edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): It’s a great day for America because, look, if the science supported the idea that man was harming the planet by increasing the carbon dioxide as a result of his activities, I would say so. But the fact of the matter is much of the science today that is being quoted is based upon fake science. You’ve heard about fake news. I have studied the science or I wouldn’t be talking like this. The Democrats don’t even know what they’re talking about. If you asked [Sen.] Sheldon Whitehouse [(D-RI)], who just attacked Trump for saying he’s betraying the country in the service of the Koch brothers, I would say to Sheldon Whitehouse, “Can you sit down with a pen and show me what carbon looks like as a molecule? Please show it to me. And please explain to me how come ancient core samples from the Antarctic show that there was climate change going on hundreds and thousands of years before man industrialized.” He would not have an answer for us, Mr. Pruitt. The science is fake science that they’ve been foisting upon a gullible public.

SCOTT PRUITT: You know what’s interesting, Michael? There was a great article in The Wall Street Journal to your point by Steven Koonin, a scientist at NYU, called “Red Team, Blue Team.” I don’t know if you saw it or not. But he proposed that we should have a red team, blue team approach with respect to CO2. We should have red team scientists and blue team scientists in an open setting, debate, discuss, and have an open discussion about what do we know, what don’t we know, and the American people deserve truth --

[...]

SAVAGE: All I can say for my audience, to the EPA head Scott Pruitt, who you’ve been listening to on this very important day in American history, is thank you very much for driving this discussion in the right direction and please tell the president that we all applaud what he has done today. It took great courage to stand up to the entire world, and America will no longer be a doormat. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 6/1/17]

June 2, 2017: Pence did damage control over exiting the Paris climate agreement the very next day on The Savage Nation. The day after Pruitt appeared on The Savage Nation to talk about the U.S. pulling out of the climate agreement, Pence called Savage for a second round of positive messaging. The segment was filled with some signature Savage pseudoscience. Pence and Savage also defended Trump’s invocation of the nationalist “America first” phrase. From the June 2 edition of The Savage Nation:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I was just telling the audience that I’m the only person in the media -- and it’s true -- that has an actual Ph.D. from a great university in a science. And all the evidence indicates to me that this whole global warming business is hyperbole. But putting that aside, vice president, leaving the Paris accords was good for the country as a whole. Can you please tell us why?

PENCE: [laughter] Well, number one, just thank you for your strong support. Look, what the world saw yesterday, frankly, what the world saw last week when the president was traveling from the Middle East to Europe, is an American president putting America first. You know the --

SAVAGE: And it’s -- what’s amazing to me is that the loser, Hillary Clinton, is calling that hatred. In other words, she’s saying anyone who supports America and puts America first is a hater. This is how upside-down the world is, Vice President Pence. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 6/2/17]

President Trump and Savage had dessert “alone” at Mar-a-Lago in February

February 18, 2017: Savage and Trump reportedly spent “over an hour” alone talking at Mar-a-Lago, and Savage said Trump told him he “wouldn’t be president” without Savage's support. On the February 17 edition of The Savage Nation, Savage told his listeners he would be seeing Trump the following day, but he said he would probably not be interviewing the president. Afterward, Savage said that he spent “over an hour” alone with Trump on February 18 at Mar-a-Lago, eating dessert together and reportedly discussing Savage’s views on climate change. According to Savage, Trump told the radio host that he “wouldn’t be president” without Savage, and Reince Priebus apparently told Savage he was a longtime fan of the show and gave Savage his cell number to text “anytime.” From the February 22 edition of The Savage Nation, in which Savage reflected warmly on the visit:

MICHAEL SAVAGE (HOST): I was invited to a dinner by my friend from Newsmax, Chris Ruddy. And he had told me that Laura Ingraham would be at the table, my family would be at the table, and several other individuals who will remain anonymous would be at the table. And of course there was no guarantee that I would meet the president. I went there on a chance that I’d have a minute with him or five seconds with him. But I will tell you this: It was longer than five seconds. I sat with the president for well over an hour, alone, in front of the entire club. We had dessert together.

[...]

Do you know what [Trump] did? The president of the United States, who the vermin in the media try to turn into a man who does not exist inside his skin -- the low-lifes, the Lilliputians -- do you know what he did? He put his arm around me and he looked at my son and he said, “We need another 25 years out of this man. Keep him well.” That’s Donald Trump. That’s the real man. [Westwood One, The Savage Nation, 2/22/17]

Reminder: Savage is a bigoted conspiracy theorist who has called for “kill[ing] 100 million” Muslims

Savage compared refugees and immigrants to lions “tearing the entrails out through the anus,” also calling them “jackals … with tattoos up to their eyebrows.” [Media Matters, 6/23/17]

Savage recently called the late Sen. Joseph McCarthy “a true American hero,” and advocated for the Trump administration to seize control of the media because CNN and MSNBC were “practicing a silent form of jihad against America.” [Media Matters, 6/14/17, 6/13/17]

In June, Savage called for “World War II-style internment camps” following the London terror attacks. On his June 5 radio show, Savage reiterated that he “had a big hand in helping Donald Trump ... get his message across and, therefore, getting him elected,” and he advocated for “World War II-style internment camps” as “the answer” to recent terror attacks. Despite acknowledging that “it is true that most [people interred in WWII] were innocent,” Savage later asked, “Why don’t you intern” the “1,000” people on the DHS watchlist, adding, “How do we know that the internment in World War II didn’t help us win the war?” [Media Matters, 6/5/17]

Savage said Muslim immigrants traveled to the U.S. to “stab people in the street.” In December 2016, Savage mocked American Muslims worried about Trump’s election, suggested Muslim immigrants came here “to stab people in the street, and jump the curb with a car and run them over,” and argued that if you “interpret” the Quran “literally, you'll wind up cutting everyone's throat, blowing things up, and killing children.” [Media Matters, 2/21/17]

Savage theorized liberals like Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) have been driven to “insanity” because of seltzer water. Savage theorized that seltzer and “the little bubbles of carbon dioxide" in it have poisoned liberals' brains. He added, “If I had the time, I'd go back to my scientific background and I would do an epidemiological study of the use of seltzer and liberalism and the insanity of liberalism.” [Right Wing Watch, 9/16/15]

Savage slammed people with PTSD and depression, calling them “weak,” “narcissistic,” and “losers.” Savage pushed junk science by claiming that people who have post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and depression, including military veterans, are  “weak,” “narcissistic,” and “losers.” Savage added that “we're being laughed at around the world. No wonder ISIS can defeat our military.” [Media Matters, 10/21/14, 10/26/14]

Savage said Obama wanted “to infect the nation with Ebola.” As Right Wing Watch noted, Savage suggested in October 2014 that Obama was guilty of treason because he wanted “to infect the nation with Ebola.” Savage later suggested Obama wants America to get Ebola “to make things fair and equitable” in the world.  [Media Matters, 10/14/14]

Savage told listeners not to trust the government about flu shots. WorldNetDaily, which hosts Savage's website, wrote about his comments regarding the flu vaccine in an article headlined “Michael Savage: Don't Trust Feds On Flu Shot”:

Asking listeners to put aside his political orientation for a moment, talk-radio host Michael Savage questioned the federal government's recommendation that citizens get a flu shot.

“Did Harry Reid take a flu shot? Did Barack Obama take a flu shot? Did Barack Obama's lovely family take a flu shot? Did Joe Biden take a flu shot?” Savage asked.

“Which of the mandarins took the flu shot?”

He explained that he was talking specifically about vaccines and was not advocating the avoidance of all pharmaceuticals.

Known for his many books on herbal medicines, Savage acknowledged he has benefited from “an awful lot of life-saving regular medicines.”

“The flu vaccine?” he asked. “No, I wouldn't take it.” [WorldNetDaily.com, 1/14/13]

Savage repeatedly accused Obama of waging a “race war” and engaging in “genocide” targeting white people. [Media Matters, 10/9/08, 6/2/17]

Savage called autism a “fraud, a racket” saying, “In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out.” Savage claimed in 2008 that autism is “a fraud, a racket.” He said: “I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.'” Following Savage's remarks, as ABC News noted, “autism organizations and medical professionals alike voice[d] their outrage.” [Media Matters, 7/17/08; ABC News, 7/21/08]

In 2006, Savage advocated for “kill[ing] 100 million” Muslims. In an April 2006 episode of The Savage Nation, Savage told listeners that “intelligent people, wealthy people ... are very depressed by the weakness that America is showing to these psychotics in the Muslim world. They say, 'Oh, there's a billion of them.'” Savage continued: “I said, 'So, kill 100 million of them, then there'd be 900 million of them.' I mean ... would you rather us die than them?” Savage added: “Would you rather we disappear or we die? Or would you rather they disappear and they die? Because you're going to have to make that choice sooner rather than later.” [Media Matters, 4/19/06]

Savage claimed lesbians are “jealous that they don't have an AIDS epidemic that they can cash in on.” [Media Matters, 6/24/04]

Savage said Arabs are “non-humans” and “racist, fascist bigots.”  Savage said that Arabs are “non-humans” and “racist, fascist bigots,” and claimed Americans would like to “drop a nuclear weapon” on an Arab country. He also said that “these people” in the Middle East “need to be forcibly converted to Christianity” in order to “turn them into human beings.” [Media Matters, 5/14/04]

MSNBC fired Savage after he said a caller was a “sodomite” and that he should “get AIDS and die.” The Associated Press wrote in 2003:

MSNBC on Monday fired Michael Savage for anti-gay comments.

The popular radio talk show host who did a weekend TV show for the cable channel referred to an unidentified caller to his show Saturday as a “sodomite” and said he should “get AIDS and die.”

“His comments were extremely inappropriate and the decision was an easy one,” MSNBC spokesman Jeremy Gaines said. [The Associated Press, 7/7/03]

For even more examples of Savage’s extreme rhetoric, click here.

Eric Hananoki and Kelly Matthews contributed research to this post.