On the June 27 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage repeatedly referred to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) as Mussolini, at one point calling her “the Mussolini in a skirt.” Savage later closed the segment of his show by stating: “This is dedicated to Nancy Pelosi Mussolini.” Later in the broadcast, Savage referred to Pelosi as the “Mussolini-like woman of the day.”

Savage apparently again referred to Pelosi as Mussolini on the June 30 broadcast of his show. After indicating that he was going to deliver a monologue on the Fairness Doctrine, Savage stated: “It's Mussolini at work -- Mussolini in a skirt with bad rouge; Mussolini if he came back and wore ugly clothing and put on bad makeup and had too much Botox. He would be calling for the Fairness Doctrine, assuming he would still own the winery and the bad restaurant chain.” According to the San Francisco Chronicle, among other investments, the Pelosis own “a St. Helena vineyard worth between $5 million and $25 million” and “the Piatti Italian restaurant chain.”

As Media Matters for America noted, during a December 12, 2007, broadcast, Savage referred to Pelosi and Rep. Jane Harman (D-CA) as “yentas” and later had this conversation on waterboarding with Phil Newmar, “the board operator for this show”:

SAVAGE: Would you rather be waterboarded for 30 seconds or eat Jane Harman's ravioli?

NEWMAR: It would definitely be the waterboarding, sir.

SAVAGE: Would you rather be waterboarded or be in the same room with Barbara Boxer after a family argument?

NEWMAR: I'm going to have to ask to be waterboarded twice.

SAVAGE: [laughs] And the last question: Would you rather be waterboarded or eat Nancy Pelosi's tortellini?

NEWMAR: Put a bullet in my head before I'll eat that tortellini.

SAVAGE: [laughs] All right, we're on record, Phil. We'll have to find somebody willing to waterboard you.

Savage again called Pelosi a “yenta” during the December 14, 2007, broadcast of his show and referred to Media Matters as “yokels and drunks,” “cretins,” “rat snitches,” “snitch perverts,” “snitches out of the ex-Soviet Union,” and “scum.”

Also on the June 27 show, Savage said of Sen. Barack Obama: “We don't know whether he'd be more like Mussolini or Stalin, but one of the two would work.”

Talk Radio Network, which syndicates Savage's show, claims that Savage is heard on more than 350 radio stations. The Savage Nation reaches at least 8.25 million listeners each week, according to Talkers Magazine, making it one of the most listened-to talk radio shows in the nation, behind only The Rush Limbaugh Show and The Sean Hannity Show.

From the June 27 edition of Talk Radio Network's The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: I almost fell out of my bed when he [British Prime Minister Sir Winston Churchill] said they would have to fall back on some sort of Gestapo. He was talking about the liberals of his time. I mean, you can call them socialists, but they're one and the same in this country. They've just been very clever in disguising their socialist rhetoric under the -- under the pretense of liberalism, but they're exactly the same. And he said that no Socialist system can be established without a political police.

We have this political police in place now. We have groups like Media Matters -- they are political police. They're the fascists of our time, who are monitoring conservatives like Michael Savage, trying to trip us up and get us in trouble, and they're sending it to would-be dictators like Pelosi -- the Mussolini in a skirt -- or to Obama. We don't know whether he'd be more like Mussolini or Stalin, but one of the two would work. The fact of the matter is, liberals cannot permit -- because they're socialists -- they could not allow free speech. They'd have to fall back on some sort of Gestapo, which led me this morning to these thoughts. And those are the thoughts about the seven plagues visiting the United States today.

[...]

SAVAGE: Yes, a free Parliament is odious to the socialist doctrinaire. And the people could not breathe free air without a harsh, clumsy hand clasped over their mouths and nostrils. This is dedicated to Nancy Pelosi Mussolini. I'll be right back.

[...]

SAVAGE: God doesn't talk. He doesn't speak from a mountain with tablets in his hands. God speaks to us in silent ways, without words. He speaks to us without words, and that's why I'm worried. I'm worried because I think this is only the beginning. I think this country has so turned from its founding ways as a righteous nation, turning from authoritarianism with Pelosi, with Obama on the horizon, saying they're in favor of clamping down on free speech and controlling us, where the civil servants would no longer be civil nor servants -- but they would grab all the power to themselves. That's what Pelosi -- the Mussolini-like woman of the day -- would want to do.

That's what Obama stands for if you read his positions and look at his policies. For all of McCain's failings, there's not a hint of authoritarianism in the man. If anything, he's too nice. That's the only problem with McCain is he's too wishy-washy. So, we're in very strange times and the worst is yet to come. Yeah, the government's done a great job of keeping our wonderful friends from the Middle East at bay. Give them credit for that. We know they're here. Every day you see of arrests, of people who were casing dams and military bases, and we're supposed to sweep that under the rug and say, they have no effect. Good luck. I mean, thank God for the FBI and for the Justice Department and whatever agencies are involved.

From the June 30 edition of The Savage Nation:

SAVAGE: Now, I want to read you something. Here is a list -- I'm going to read you some titles of editorials or monologues I've written over the last several months. “Oil for War,” remember that one? For years, I've been calling for Iraq to pay us back for the cost of liberating them from the torture chambers of Saddam Hussein. You remember that? Hey, how's that for a newspaper editorial?

How about the one from last week? “Bush's Legacy: The Greatest American President” -- why did I say that? Because, last Thursday, we won on the Second Amendment. Why did we win? Because Bush put in two conservatives in the Supreme Court. “The Seven Plagues of the United States,” where I said God is angry with the United States. Do you remember my brilliant analysis of Republicans versus conservatives? That's another one of my editorials.

How about “The Real Ted Kennedy,” when everybody was boo-hoo-hooing over Ted Kennedy? I was the only one in the media who had the guts to remember Ted Kennedy's true legacy. I was attacked for that, but just because he got sick, doesn't mean that his legacy disappeared with his illness. How about “The Sellout of the White Male” -- June 30th, 2008. You want me to read you some of the other headlines that I wrote on my verbal newspaper? They'd make for a heck of a book. “Heroes Versus Humanity” -- “Heroes Versus Humanity”; “Anchors Away: Attacking the Anchor Babies in America” -- June 30th, 2000 -- oh, that's today, June 30th. What am I talking about? That's the date on today.

“The Unfairness Doctrine” by Michael Savage. I explained to you why it's not the Fairness Doctrine at all. It's Mussolini at work -- Mussolini in a skirt with bad rouge; Mussolini if he came back and wore ugly clothing and put on bad makeup and had too much Botox. He would be calling for the Fairness Doctrine, assuming he would still own the winery and the bad restaurant chain.

Zachary Aronow is an intern at Media Matters for America.