Olbermann named Fox's Hume “Worst Person in World” for criticizing Reid for using same word choice to describe Dubai Ports World deal as Hume previously used

Written by Julie Millican

Published

MSNBC's Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Brit Hume “Worst Person in the World” for accusing Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid of being “factually challenged” in his description of the deal under which a company owned by the government of Dubai would take over the British firm Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which runs terminal operations at six U.S. ports. Hume took issue with Reid's statement that the deal gives “another country control of our ports,” but as Media Matters for America has noted, Hume himself has described the Dubail company as assuming “control” of the ports.

On the February 28 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Brit Hume “Worst Person in the World” for accusing Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid (NV) of being “factually challenged” in his description of the deal under which Dubai Ports World (DPW) -- a company owned by the government of Dubai, a member state of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) -- would take over the British firm Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which manages terminal operations at six U.S. ports. Hume took issue with Reid's statement that the deal gives “another country control of our ports,” but as Media Matters for America has noted, Hume himself has described DPW as assuming “control” of the ports.

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

OLBERMANN: But tonight's winner: Brit Hume from Fox News, at it again. Monday, he described the Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid as “factually challenged” after the senator said Dubai Ports World was taking control of our ports. Hume said they were not getting control of the ports, emphasis on the word “control.”

But as recently as last Wednesday, the situation was described thusly on Fox News, quoting, “The Bush administration was trying today to dig itself out of a political hole on the question of who should control some of the nation's ports.” Who used that word “control” and then criticized the senator for using the same word? Brit Hume, today's “Worst Person in the World.”