Olbermann named Beck “runner-up” in “Worst Person” for his “hypocritical” comments about Obama, race

Written by Kirstin Ellison

Published

On the January 28 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named CNN Headline News' Glenn Beck the “runner-up” in his “Worst Person in the World” segment for Beck's recent comments -- documented by Media Matters for America -- on Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) and race. On the January 25 edition of his show, Beck responded to National Public Radio commentator John Ridley's statement that “questions about 'Is Obama black enough?' ” are “ridiculous” by asking: "[C]an you imagine a white commentator saying that? Can you imagine if I said, 'Is Barack Obama black enough?' ... I don't see that man as black. Of course I do, because I'm not blind. I don't see him as black or white. He just is. He's an American. He's a man."

However, on the February 12, 2007, broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Beck commented that Obama is “very white in many ways,” adding, “Gee, can I even say that? Can I even say that without somebody else starting a campaign saying, 'What does he mean, ”He's very white?" ' He is. He's very white." Later on the February 12 show, Beck claimed that Obama “is colorless,” adding that “as a white guy ... [y]ou don't notice that he is black. So he might as well be white, you know what I mean?” After contrasting Beck's January 25 comments with his February 2007 remarks, Olbermann said, “Sometimes it's not just the dumb, it's the hypocritical.”

Olbermann has repeatedly named Beck during his “Worst Person” segment. In January 2006, Olbermann also named a CNN executive “Worst Person” for hiring Beck to host his CNN Headline News show.

From the January 28 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: Our runner-up, Glenn Beck. On TV last Friday, after somebody references the “is Obama black enough” nonsense, he says, “Can you imagine a white commentator saying that? Can you imagine if I had said, 'Is Barack Obama black enough?' I mean, I don't see that man as black.”

On February 12 of 2007 on the radio, he said, Barack Obama is quote, “very white in many ways. He is colorless. As a white guy you don't notice that he's black. So he might as well be white. Do you know what I mean?”

Yes. Sometimes it's not just the dumb, it's the hypocritical.