Olbermann awarded Rivera, Gibson “Worst Person” honors: Rivera for smearing Kerry, Gibson for falsehood about human-rights groups

Written by Ben Fishel

Published

Keith Olbermann handed out his nightly “Worst Person in the World” awards, with Geraldo Rivera receiving runner-up honors, behind Saddam Hussein, for saying that “in the last 35 years, I've seen a hell of a lot more combat” than Sen. John Kerry. John Gibson was awarded third place for claiming that “human-rights groups” hadn't “sa[id] a word” about reports that two U.S. soldiers had been brutally tortured and murdered.


On the June 23 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann handed out his nightly “Worst Person in the World” awards, with Fox News host Geraldo Rivera receiving runner-up recognition, behind Saddam Hussein, for saying, as Media Matters for America detailed, that “in the last 35 years, I've seen a hell of a lot more combat” than Sen. John Kerry (D-MA). Rivera added that Kerry's amendment to redeploy U.S. troops from Iraq by July 2007 “only aids and abets the enemy.” Olbermann awarded third place to Fox News host John Gibson for falsely claiming, as Media Matters also documented, that “human-rights groups” hadn't “sa[id] a word” about reports that two U.S. soldiers had been brutally tortured and murdered by an insurgent group in Iraq.

Olbermann noted that the competition was “close” but that both Gibson and Rivera lost the “Worst Person” award to Saddam for staging a pseudo-hunger strike that only “lasted a lunchtime.”

From the June 23 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: The bronze goes to rapidly deteriorating John Gibson of Fox News. This past Wednesday night [June 21], after the atrocities in Iraq, “Gibby” lambasted Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch for not condemning the torturing and murder of Privates Thomas Tucker and Kristian Menchaca. Except, Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch had both issued exactly the kind of condemnations on Wednesday morning that John then called for Wednesday night.

The runner up, his colleague, Geraldo Rivera, blasting John Kerry for talking about withdrawal from Iraq, saying Kerry was aiding and abetting the enemy. “In the last 35 years,” Geraldo barked, “I've seen a hell of a lot more combat than John Kerry.” Mr. Rivera, let's leave your personal and work relationships out of this.

But the winner -- and it was close -- Saddam Hussein. Remember that hunger strike he and seven co-defendants went on, the one to protest the killing of one of his lawyers? He and the other seven refused lunch last Thursday [June 22], but they ate dinner and every meal since. That's a hunger strike that lasted a lunchtime.