Savage on Obama, "We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings"
On the February 21 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage falsely asserted that Sen. Barack Obama is a Muslim, claiming that "[w]e have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings." Savage made the comment while discussing a recent New York Times article that reported on Sen. John McCain's relationship with a telecommunications lobbyist. Savage dismissed the article and suggested that the media should be more concerned about "the Muslim connection to Obama." He continued: "Barack Hussein Obama. Father Muslim, grandfather Muslim. Nothing wrong with that. But we, the American people, being at war with radical Islam have a -- have a need to know just exactly what kind of Muslim he was exposed to, what kind of Muslim he is, what kind of Muslim teachings he's -- he's friendly to. We have a right to know if he's a so-called friendly Muslim or one who aspires to more radical teachings. That's something the media ought to be concerned about, not whether John McCain had an infatuation with a lobbyist 10 years ago." Savage went on to express concern that an unnamed "major reporter," who he said had spoken with him that morning, knew "nothing about Obama's Muslim background and the scandal that is behind all of that, that is raging on the Internet."
In fact, as Media Matters for America has noted, Obama is not a Muslim. The Obama campaign website states that Obama "has never been a Muslim, was not raised a Muslim, and is a committed Christian who attends the United Church of Christ." Numerous media figures, including Savage, have repeated the false rumor that Obama attended a madrassa as a child. Savage has frequently attacked Obama, on one occasion falsely referring to him as "Barack Madrassas Obama."
