MRC Press Release - HOUSE MAJORITY LEADER HOYER LATEST DEMOCRAT TO ADMIT TO SEEKING RETURN OF THE FAIRNESS DOCTRINE
ALEXANDRIA, VA - Sen. Barack Obama has launched a new TV advertisement in Spanish against Sen. John McCain that smears nationally syndicated talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh. The ad, which will run in Limbaugh's home state of Florida as well as Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico, flashes a picture of Limbaugh and quotes him saying, "Mexicans are stupid and unqualified" and "Shut your mouth or get out." Both excerpts are used to make Limbaugh appear racist and fail to include the context surrounding these phrases. Transcripts reveal that the former addressed jobs in Mexico, not immigrants (legal or illegal), and the latter was a parody of Mexican immigration laws. Several national reporters including ABC News's Jake Tapper and The Politico's Jonathan Martin have discredited this ad.
Brent Bozell issued the following statement:
"The national media have a responsibility to the American public to unanimously denounce this smear by the Obama campaign against Rush Limbaugh. The Obama campaign refuses to pull the ad despite its being discredited as untrue by reporters for ABC News and The Politico. The Obama campaign's refusal to pull this discredited smear, that purposely targets Latinos and is being run in Spanish, is way beyond the pale and the national media need to call Mr. Obama on the carpet for it.
"All Americans, not just Hispanic Americans, need to know this ad is a smear and has been shown to be untrue - as Jake Tapper of ABC News reported earlier today. Likewise, the Washington Post, which ran a story about the ad without checking the facts, needs to run an immediate correction. They can just cut and paste from Mr. Tapper since he has done their work for them.
"The media hold themselves up as the fact-checkers of political ads and it's time for them to universally denounce and discredit this negative, personal smear against Rush Limbaugh, which the Obama campaign continues to run."
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