Michelle Obama Derangement Syndrome: Four Years, 40 Smears

TERRY KREPEL & LESLIE ROSENBERG/Media MAtters for America

Conservative media figures have spent the past four years smearing, attacking, and hurling insults at Michelle Obama. As the first lady prepares to address the Democratic National Convention, Media Matters details the right-wing media's Michelle Obama derangement syndrome.

Right-Wing Media Attacked Michelle Obama As Unpatriotic

Wash. Times Attempted To Lip-Read First Lady's Whispering To Husband To Claim She Attacked American Flag. In an article which was later picked up by the right-wing blogosphere, Washington Timessenior editorial writer for foreign affairs James Robbins speculated that Mrs. Obama "appear[ed] to" whisper to her husband, "all this just for a flag" during the 9-11 Memorial ceremony in New York City. From the September 13, 2011, piece:

The internet was buzzing Tuesday night with video of First Lady Michelle Obama apparently showing extreme disrespect to the American flag at a ceremony in honor of the victims of the September 11, 2001 terror attacks. As police and firefighters fold the flag to the sound of marching bagpipers, a skeptical looking Mrs. Obama leans to her husband and appears to say, "all this just for a flag." She then purses her lips and shakes her head slightly as Mr. Obama nods.  [The Washington Times, 9/13/11, via Media Matters]

O'Reilly Didn't "Want To Go On A Lynching Party Against Michelle Obama" Unless "Evidence" Showed She Felt America "Is A Bad Country." After a listener of his radio show said that according to "a friend who had knowledge of her," Michelle Obama " 'is a very angry,' her word was 'militant woman,' " Fox News' Bill O'Reilly later stated: "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down." [Westwood One, The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly, 2/19/08, via Media Matters]

Hannity Repeatedly Attempted To Paint Mrs. Obama As Unpatriotic By Distorting Her Senior Thesis.Fox News' Sean Hannity distorted a passage from Michelle Obama's 1985 Princeton senior thesis to claim that she holds "the belief that blacks must join in solidarity to combat a white oppressor" during several of his February 2008 shows. Hannity ripped the line from its proper context:

As discussed earlier, most respondents were attending Princeton during the 70's, at a time when the Black Power Movement was still influencing the attitudes of many Blacks.

It is possible that Black individuals either chose to or felt pressure to come together with other Blacks on campus because of the belief that Blacks must join in solidarity to combat a White oppressor. As the few blacks in a white environment it is understandable that respondents might have felt a need to look out for one another. [Media Matters, 2/29/08]

Fox's Juan Williams Claimed That Michelle Obama's Instinct Is To "Blame America." Fox News contributor Juan Williams baselessly attacked Michelle Obama, claiming that "her instinct is to start with this 'blame America' ... stuff." Williams asserted that Michelle Obama's "instinct" is to "blame America" or be "the victim." Williams also said that she could be a "liabilit[y]" or an "albatross" for President Obama. [Fox News,The O'Reilly Factor, 1/26/09]

Fox's Attacks On First Lady Were Not Missed By ABC News. During the February 21, 2010, edition of ABC'sWorld News, correspondent Yunji de Nies noted that Fox "has repeatedly questioned the First Lady's patriotism." [ABC, World News, 2/21/10]

Limbaugh Claimed Michelle Obama "Is Not Proud Of Her Country Unless She's Getting What She Wants From It." From the October 1, 2009, edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Now I'm like you, I'm thinking that Michelle Obama needs a little dictionary lesson. Let's not forget this is the woman who is not proud of her country unless she's getting what she wants from it. She said during the campaign the first time she had been proud of her country was when Obama was nominated or done something. So she sacrificed herself to get in a big, luxurious jet, a Boeing 757, to fly to Copenhagen where she is pampered and treated like she were a goddess. Yes, this is a sacrifice. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 10/1/09]

Beck & Crew Joked About Michelle Obama Not Loving Her Country. On the July 13, 2010, edition of Glenn Beck's radio show, he and his cast spent more than four minutes sarcastically commenting about how much Michelle Obama doesn't love her country. As proof of this, they cited her observation that "stubborn inequality" still exists in the United States and her promotion of healthy eating. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 7/13/10]

Right-Wing Media Attacked Michelle Obama's Efforts To Fight Childhood Obesity

Beck Claimed Michelle Obama's "Let's Move Campaign" Could Lead To Imprisonment For Serving Fries. Following the launch of Mrs. Obama's "Let's Move Campaign" to fight childhood obesity, Glenn Beck said:

BECK: So then what? Well, you're going to have to tax, you're going to have to make it more and more difficult, but when those options don't work, how do you get people to stop eating french fries? Because french fries still beat carrots. What's left? Well now you have to start thinking about punishments. Maybe a fine, maybe even jail! But it always starts with a nudge. [Fox News, Glenn Beck, 9/14/10]

Limbaugh Was Not "Surprised" That Michelle Obama Encouraged People To "Get On That Teat."Disparaging Michelle Obama's promotion of breastfeeding, Limbaugh said that he wasn't surprised to see the first lady "encouraging people to get on that teat." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show,9/21/10]

Fox's Ingraham Directed GOP To Oppose Michelle Obama's Efforts To Fight Childhood Obesity. During a December 14, 2010, appearance on Fox's morning show, right-wing radio talk show host and Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham urged Republicans to "be more vociferously opposed" to Michelle Obama's ideas, now that she is "clearly in the policy arena" by opposing childhood obesity. [Fox News, Fox & Friends,12/14/10]

Fox's Tucker Carlson Equated Michelle Obama's "Let's Move" Campaign To Her Raising Your Kids For You "At Gunpoint." During a debate on the February 15, 2011, edition of Fox's Hannity, Fox contributor Tucker Carlson slammed the First Lady for her "let's move" campaign, asking, "Why would you want to raise your own kids when Michelle Obama will do it for you ... at gunpoint?" [Fox News, Hannity, 2/15/11]

Following A Speech By Mrs. Obama On Food Deserts, Ingraham Commented On Sasha Obama's Build. While playing a clip of Michelle Obama talking about food deserts, Laura Ingraham said, "One Of [Michelle Obama's] daughters apparently is not living in a food desert." [Talk Radio Network, The Laura Ingraham Show, 4/28/11]

Human Events' Mattera: Michelle Obama Is A "Dietary Dominatrix." Appearing on Fox Business Network, conservative author and radio host Jason Mattera called Michelle Obama a "dietary dominatrix." [Fox Business,Follow the Money, 12/6/11, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Media Attacked First Lady's Body

Andrew Breitbart's Website Published A Cartoon Of An Overweight Michelle Obama Saying "Shut Up And Pass The Bacon!" Taking a cue from Rush Limbaugh's nickname for the first lady -- "Michelle, My Butt" -- one of Andrew Breitbart's websites posted a cartoon of an overweight Michelle Obama eating a plate-full of hamburgers and saying: "Shut up and pass the bacon!" [Big Government, 2/12/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Told Michelle Obama She "Had Better Look Like An Ethiopian" To Promote Healthy Eating.Limbaugh attacked Mrs. Obama for advocating fitness and healthy eating: "If you're gonna tell everybody to eat twigs and berries ... you had better look like an Ethiopian." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 2/23/11]

National Review Columnist Suggested Michelle Obama Is Fat. In a column for National Review, David Kahan wrote:

Still, Michelle would have a real shot of slipping into Queen Kapiolani's muumuu collection and making it her own, especially after a few more meals of short ribs in Vail, the calorie count of which is only slightly offset by her incessant finger-wagging at the rest of us. [National Review,3/15/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh: President Obama's Limousine "Weighs Eight Tons Without Michelle In It." Discussing President Obama's limousine on his radio show, Rush Limbaugh stated that the limousine "weighs eight tons without Michelle in it." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/15/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Somehow Turned Libya Discussion Into A Fat Joke About Michelle Obama. Rush Limbaugh accused Sen. John McCain of "butt-kissing" by giving credit to President Obama for the death of Libyan dictator Muammar Gadhafi, adding, "Whose butt is he kissing with that comment? Obama's? Obama doesn't have a butt. Compared to his wife, he really doesn't have a butt." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show; 10/20/11, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Media Played Fashion Police For First Lady

Michael Savage Called Michelle Obama "The Worst Dressed First Lady In The History Of The Country." On his June 25, 2009, radio program, Michael Savage lashed out against the characterization of Michelle Obama as a fashion icon, declaring her "the worst dressed first lady in the history of the country," and asking, "Why every night a sleeveless dress? What's that all about?" [Talk Radio Network, The Savage Nation,6/25/09, via Media Matters]

Beck: Michelle Obama's Beach Outfit Was The "Most Marie Antoinette" Yet. During an appearance onThe O'Reilly Factor, Glenn Beck found Mrs. Obama's outfit during a visit to an oil-polluted Gulf beach unacceptable, calling it "the most Marie Antoinette I have seen of anything with Michelle Obama," and "an outrage." [Fox News, The O'Reilly Factor, 7/16/10, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Media Claimed Michelle Obama's State Dinner Dress Honored Communist China. The right-wing media attacked Michelle Obama for wearing a red dress to a White House state dinner, suggesting she did so to honor "Commie Red China." [Media Matters, 1/20/11]

Loesch Guest: "Why Doesn't She Wear Anything That Fits?" Appearing as a guest on CNN contributor Dana Loesch's radio show, commentator Tony Katz said if President Obama actually "liked women he'd buy Michelle Obama better clothes. Why doesn't she wear anything that fits?" [KFTK, The Dana Show, 4/12/12, viaMedia Matters]

Right-Wing Media Launched Sexist Attacks On First Lady

Wash. Times Called Michelle Obama Campaign Event An "Estrogenfest" And "A Girlie Show." In a news article, The Washington Times described a 2008 campaign event featuring Michelle Obama as "as much estrogenfest as it was campaign rally." The article continued: "Even Michigan Gov. Jennifer M. Granholm got in on the girlie show as they campaigned together." [The Washington Times, 7/14/08]

Beck Asked Why Michelle Obama's "Breasts Are All Smushed Up." On his May 20, 2010, radio program, Beck cited the Drudge Report's sexist attack on Michelle Obama, saying: "She looks positively like she's trying to be some Greek statue. I don't think I've ever seen the First Lady with her -- excuse the expression, but with her breasts all smushed up, I mean what is that? Did you even see that picture, I mean, that's -- what is that?" [Drudge Report; Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 5/20/10, via Media Matters]

Conservative Media Likened "Pampered" Michelle Obama To A "Modern-Day Marie Antoinette."Right-wing media repeatedly compared First Lady Michelle Obama to Marie Antoinette. This comparison was in part based on the falsehood that the Obama family dog flew on his own "separate aircraft to vacation with them in Maine." [Media Matters, 8/5/10]

Fox's Malkin Calls Michelle Obama "The Bitter Half Of The Obama Administration." On Fox News'Hannity, Fox contributor Michelle Malkin said that Michelle Obama has "earned" the designation as "the bitter half of the Obama administration." [Fox News, Hannity, 5/30/12, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Media Played The Race Card On Michelle Obama

Fox's Michelle Malkin Called First Lady One Of The President's "Cronies Of Color." In her book Culture of Corruption: Obama and His Team of Tax Cheats, Crooks, and Cronies, Fox News contributor Michelle Malkin wrote:

But they are still in the minority. And there will be more predictable excuses. As I document in this book, Obama's cronies of color (beginning with his own wife) reach for the race card when their dubious judgment is questioned. And when all else fails, there's always the "I inherited the problem" alibi.

To which I reply: Read the book. Barack Obama owns this cabinet of tax cheats, crooks, and cronies. It is his and his alone. In the era of "new politics," judge him as you would judge other mere mortals. Judge him not by the company that preceded him. [Media Matters, 8/1/09]

Limbaugh "Speculate[d]" That Michelle Obama Skipped Sen. Robert Byrd's Funeral Because Of Her "Authentic Slave Blood." From the July 2, 2010, edition of The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: I don't know why Michelle, my belle, is not there. But, as has been said by several Black civil rights leaders, Obama does not have authentic slave blood. But Michelle does, and maybe that's why. We can only speculate. Maybe she's at a skybox at a baseball or football game, who knows. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 7/2/10]

Limbaugh Called First Lady's Trip To Spain "Vacation Affirmative Action." On his radio show, Rush Limbaugh said:

LIMBAUGH: The liberals in this country, the left, the elite, who are walking around with a collective guilt of 200 some-odd years over our nation's slave past, over our discrimination past, and all of these things, civil rights violations, all of these things, running around -- it's the animating factor of many sports writers by the way, it's the thing that animates them. It's the thing that animates a lot of people on the left.

And Michelle "my belle" Obama is descended from slaves. As the left has pointed -- not me -- as leftist preachers have pointed out, she's got slave blood where Obama himself does not. He's not authentic, she is. Now for years, and years, and years, powerful people have been able to game the system and travel all over the world and have fine meals and fine wine and all of these fine things. It's only fair, and it's only right that members of an abused minority now get their share of the pie. It's like vacation affirmative action. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/10/10]

Limbaugh: Michelle Obama Was Booed At NASCAR Event Because She Exhibited "Uppity-Ism."Discussing an appearance by Michelle Obama at a NASCAR event during which she was booed, Rush Limbaugh said that she exhibited "a little bit of uppity-ism" by traveling in a separate plane than her husband to a destination. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 11/21/11, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Media Used Jodi Kantor Book To Launch Racially Charged Attacks On Michelle Obama. Following the release of The Obamas by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, the right-wing media used a passage from the book to suggest that Michelle Obama has a problem with "white Irish Catholics" wielding power. In fact, the line that was distorted by the right-wing media was not a quote by Obama, but a description by Kantor, and the full context of the quote makes it clear that Obama was referring to entrenched power and political dynasties, not any particular ethnic group. [Media Matters, 1/10/12]

Right-Wing Media Launched Other Random Attacks On First Lady

Fox Nation Suggested Michelle Obama Stocked Socialism Books In White House Library. Fox Nation and other conservative blogs falsely accused Michelle Obama of "stock[ing] the White House Library with books on socialism." The books in question have been in the White House library since 1963. [Media Matters, 2/18/10]

Limbaugh Falsely Claimed Taxpayers Funded 60 Luxury Hotel Rooms For Michelle Obama's Vacation. Rush Limbaugh falsely asserted that Michelle Obama took "40 of her best friends and leas[ed] 60 rooms in a 5 star hotel -- paid by you." In fact, the White House has said the Obamas are paying for personal expenses on the trip, including their lodging. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 8/6/11, viaMedia Matters]

Beck Lied About First Lady's Staff Size To Say She "Is Really Marie Antoinette." On his radio show, Glenn Beck attacked Michelle Obama for allegedly lavish spending on staffers and parties, saying, "The first lady's office needs 43 people? For what? These people are out of control. It is really Marie Antoinette." PolitiFact.com checked Beck's claim and found that, in fact, "Michelle Obama has a staff of 25, not 43. ... The size of Michelle Obama's staff is similar to that of her immediate predecessors." PolitiFact gave Beck its "Pants on Fire" rating. [Premiere Radio Networks, The Glenn Beck Program, 2/25/11, via Media Matters]

Limbaugh Attacked Michelle Obama For Going To Target. When a picture surfaced of Michelle Obama shopping at a Target discount store, Rush Limbaugh said, "It has gotten so bad, they had to send Moochelle out there in a Lady Gaga-type getup. She went shopping at Target." [Premiere Radio Networks, The Rush Limbaugh Show, 9/30/11, via Media Matters]

Malkin: Obama Went To Target To "Counter The Negative Diva Buzz." In a blog post, Michelle Malkin attacked Michelle Obama for shopping at Target, writing that Obama was "about as 'incognito' as Lady Gaga's outfit at her younger sister's graduation." Malkin went on to call the first lady "the glamour queen" and further stated that Obama's Target visit was "[t]o counter the negative diva buzz" and that it "[l]ooks like she left the bling at home." [MichelleMalkin.com, 9/29/11, via Media Matters]

Right-Wing Blogs Attacked Michelle Obama Over Appearance On Nickelodeon's iCarly. During a guest appearance by Michelle Obama on the Nickelodeon show iCarly, one of the characters on the show referred to the first lady as "your excellency." Another character corrected the first, saying, "You don't call her 'your excellency,' " to which Obama responded, "No, no. I kind of like it." The Weasel Zippers blog responded to the scripted line by writing: "Queen Michelle On iCarley Confirms What We've All Suspected: 'I Kind Of Like Being Called Your Excellency'..." [Weasel Zippers, 1/3/12]

Right-Wing Blogs Attacked Michelle Obama For Leading Olympic Delegation. Right-wing bloggers attacked Michelle Obama following an announcement that the first lady would be leading the American delegation during the Opening Ceremony of the 2012 London Olympic Games, despite the fact that both Laura Bush and Hillary Clinton previously led Olympic delegations. As the AP pointed out, it has "become somewhat of a tradition for first ladies to lead the U.S. delegation." [Media Matters, 6/22/12; AP, 3/13/12]

Fox News Twisted Michelle Obama's Comments To Claim She Said Voting For Republicans Would Cause People To "Die From Cancer." Fox News distorted comments by Michelle Obama at a campaign event in order to claim that she was "insinuating" that "if you elect Mitt Romney, women will die from cancer." But Obama simply pointed out that Romney's plan to repeal health care reform would increase the number of people without access to health insurance. [Media Matters, 8/16/12]

Fox's Dobbs: Michelle Obama Is "High Maintenance" From A "Taxpayer Perspective" Because Of Her Vacations. On his Fox Business show, Lou Dobbs said that "when the first lady is living high and taking sixteen -- sixteen! -- vacations, and that's in a period of approximately three and a half years, well, things start to add up. She gets to be, if you'll forgive the expression, from a taxpayer perspective -- certainly, I'm sure, not from her husband's perspective -- high maintenance." [Fox Business, Lou Dobbs Tonight, 8/9/12, via Media Matters]

Fox News' Malignant Distortion Of Michelle Obama

CHELSEA RUDMAN/Media Matters for America

Fox News is twisting comments Michelle Obama made to claim she said that voting for Republicans could cause people to "die from cancer." In fact,  the first lady was simply pointing out that repealing health care reform would increase the number of people without health insurance.

At a campaign event in Los Angeles on Monday, Michelle Obama discussed the presidential election andnoted calls from the right to repeal the Affordable Care Act. The first lady pointed out that the reform bill was in part an effort to expand health care access, including a hypothetical "woman dying of cancer whose insurance company wouldn't cover her care."

Here's Fox & Friends' sinister interpretation of Michelle Obama's comments:

CARLSON: Let's talk a little bit about Michelle Obama, the first lady, out on the campaign trail, and she was talking about this cancer ad, the controversial one, or was she?  Do you believe that she was insinuating back to that ad when she said that if you elect Mitt Romney, women will die from cancer?

MICHELLE MALKIN (Fox News contributor): Well, it's an interesting parallel -- it's an interesting echo of the ad's theme, of course, which is that somehow, if Republicans are elected to the White House, that all of these people are going to die, die, die.

Text aired during the segment read:

Later, on America's Newsroom, Fox News contributor Deroy Murdock said, "We've got President Obama's supporters and even Michelle Obama saying that if you vote for the Republicans, people will get cancer."

Fox did not make clear when Michelle Obama supposedly said this, but Carlson's commentary echoes aWashington Examiner post from August 13 highlighting comments Obama made at a campaign event that day. And in those comments, the first lady did not say that "if you vote for the Republicans, people will get cancer." The full context of her remarks shows that she was pointing out that prior to the passage of the Affordable Care Act, which conservatives have said they want to repeal, more people lacked health insurance:

But this election is also a choice about the health of our families.  Now, the fact is that over the past century -- all right, 100 years -- there have been so many Presidents who have tried and failed to meet the challenge of health care reform.  But fortunately your President was determined.  Fortunately he was driven by the stories of people he'd met.  We all know these stories -- the grandparents who couldn't afford their medications; the families going broke because a child got sick; the woman dying of cancer whose insurance company wouldn't cover her care.  And let me tell you something, that's what kept Barack going day after day.  That's why he fought so hard for this historic reform. 

O'Reilly's Defense Of His "Angry Woman" Comment About Michelle Obama Falls Flat

by Todd Gregory/Media Matters

On January 11, ABC's World News did a report on Michelle Obama's denial of accusations that she is an "angry black woman." As an example, ABC used a clip of Bill O'Reilly saying in 2008 that "there is some validity" to the statement that Michelle Obama "looks like an angry woman."

On the January 12 edition of his Fox News show, O'Reilly reacted indignantly: "For ABC News to paint me as critical of her is flat-out dishonest."

O'Reilly's defense of his comment focused mainly on the fact that the clip of him was from 2008, and that since then, he has been "generally favorable" to Michelle Obama:

O'REILLY: Well, that sounds kind of bad, does it not? But here's the context. That interview was done about three and a half years ago -- three and a half years ago, when the country was still getting to know Mrs. Obama, who did have some problems in the beginning. You'll remember the "proud of her country" remark. My interview back then was with Rebecca Johnson, who wrote a profile on Michelle Obama for Vogue magazine.

[...]

O'REILLY: As usual, I did my job. I asked the tough questions about Mrs. Obama because there was a perception -- and everybody knows it -- that she was not happy-go-lucky. In fact, she told CBS News she's tired of being labeled an angry black woman. That's what she said. On the Factor, Ms. Johnson was given plenty of time to set the record straight as she saw it. That's why we had her on.

Subsequently, since the Obamas have occupied the White House, I have been generally favorable to Michelle Obama.

O'Reilly then showed a series of clips of him saying nice things about the first lady.

Here's the problem: This defense doesn't make any sense. As O'Reilly said himself, "the country was still getting to know Mrs. Obama" in 2008. During that getting-to-know-you period, O'Reilly did indeed say that Michelle Obama "looks like an angry woman." In doing so, he obviously helped create a perception in his viewers' minds that she is "an angry woman."

O'Reilly may have said otherwise since then, but he can't honestly claim that he had no role in creating the "angry woman" image of Michelle Obama.

O'Reilly also dragged Media Matters into his complaint: "ABC News also did not tell its audience that it got the clip it used on me from the far-left website Media Matters, which is in business solely to smear non-liberal media people."

This doesn't make much sense, either. O'Reilly didn't dispute the authenticity of the clip or the context of what he said back in 2008. The clip is accurate, and where ABC got it from is irrelevant.

During a tease of this story at the top of the show, the graphic read "Taken Out of Context":

O'Reilly also made a form of this argument during a subsequent discussion with Fox News contributor Laura Ingraham:

O'REILLY: And here's what happened. I worked at ABC News, and here -- here's exactly what happened. They had some inexperienced correspondent -- I don't know even know who she is -- on it. But they had a producer. Producer was lazy. Producer looked at -- you know, Googled Michelle Obama. Bing, Media Matters comes up right away. He takes the thing right off. Doesn't do any contextual about it. When did it happen? Why did it happen? What was the --

INGRAHAM: Oh, that's so -- why are you surprised? Why are you surprised by this?

O'REILLY: No, I'm not, but I want the people to understand this is what happens all the time. So then ABC News on their World News broadcast reaches, what, 8 million people? OK, they throw my picture up there with the Fox News Channel underneath. And how are they supposed to know? How are these people supposed to know what the history of it is? They don't.

If O'Reilly is suggesting that ABC deceived its viewers by not telling them the clip was from 2008, he's wrong there, too. The image ABC that used with the audio of O'Reilly noted it was from "Sept 2008":

Full transcripts of O'Reilly's segments on the story are below.

From the tease at the top of the show:

O'REILLY: The O'Reilly Factor is on tonight.

MICHELLE OBAMA [video clip]: That's been an image that people have tried to paint of me, that I'm some angry black woman.

O'REILLY: ABC News, reporting on a new book about the Obamas, portrays me, your humble correspondent, as hostile to the first lady.

[begin video clip]

CECILIA VEGA (ABC News correspondent): The image of an angry Michelle Obama has long been fodder for critics.

O'REILLY [audio clip]: I have a lot of people who call me on the radio and say she looks angry. And I have to say there's some validity to that. She looks like angry woman.

[end video clip]

O'REILLY: And guess where they got that clip? The far-left website Media Matters. Did ABC News tell its audience? We will tell you.

From O'Reilly's "Talking Points Memo":

O'REILLY: The media race-baiting begins. That is the subject of this evening's Talking Points Memo. As you may know, there's a new book out about the Obamas in which the first lady is discussed at length. ABC News reported on the book last night and used me, your humble correspondent, to represent pundits critical of Michelle Obama.

[begin video clip]

VEGA: A new book called The Obamas paints a portrait of a first lady, who, in the beginning, was frustrated and unhappy with life in the White House. The image of an angry Michelle Obama has long been fodder for critics.

O'REILLY [audio clip]: I have a lot of people who call me on the radio and say she looks angry. And I have to say there's some validity to that. She looks like angry woman.

[end video clip]

O'REILLY: Well, that sounds kind of bad, does it not? But here's the context. That interview was done about three and a half years ago -- three and a half years ago, when the country was still getting to know Mrs. Obama, who did have some problems in the beginning. You'll remember the "proud of her country" remark. My interview back then was with Rebecca Johnson, who wrote a profile on Michelle Obama for Vogue magazine.

[begin video clip]

JOHNSON: I found her lovely, actually. Very bright, very thoughtful, and, you know, an impressive person. Intelligent. She was great. I was impressed.

O'REILLY: Now, I have a lot of people who call me on the radio and say she looks angry. And I have to say there's some validity to that. She looks like an angry woman. Did you ask her about that?

JOHNSON: Don't they say that about you, too?

O'REILLY: Yeah, but I'm not running for -- I'm not going to be the first lady. I hope not, anyway.

[end video clip]

O'REILLY: As usual, I did my job. I asked the tough questions about Mrs. Obama because there was a perception -- and everybody knows it -- that she was not happy-go-lucky. In fact, she told CBS News she's tired of being labeled an angry black woman. That's what she said. On the Factor, Ms. Johnson was given plenty of time to set the record straight as she saw it. That's why we had her on.

Subsequently, since the Obamas have occupied the White House, I have been generally favorable to Michelle Obama.

O'REILLY [video clip]: The president and first lady were very gracious to me. This is the first time I've spoken to Michelle Obama, and I was impressed. She's charismatic, articulate, and beautiful.

O'REILLY [video clip]: Ms. Obama was participating in the healthy kids fair, and the hula hoop is good exercise for the midsection. For being hoop conscious, Michelle Obama is a patriot.

O'REILLY [video clip]: For trying to help American vets, the first lady is a patriot.

O'REILLY [video clip]: But don't you think that Michelle Obama speaking out about healthy food is -- I think it's noble. I think it's a good thing.

O'REILLY [video clip]: Then they brought her into the White House, Michelle Obama, and they basically placed her in a position where she's glamorous. And she is. She's like Jackie Kennedy.

O'REILLY [video clip]: I believe Michelle Obama is a good woman who wants the best for all Americans.

O'REILLY: But those statements did not fit into the narrative that ABC News wanted to present last night -- that of guys like me hammering Michelle Obama.

ABC News also did not tell its audience that it got the clip it used on me from the far-left website Media Matters, which is in business solely to smear non-liberal media people.

Now, we brought the situation to ABC's attention today, and they say from now on, they'll call people like me who are injected into their news coverage. And I think it's important. Because I'm simply not going to let -- I'm not going to let the presidential campaign degenerate into a race-baiting media propaganda exposition. All who participate in that, and there are plenty of them, are going to be called out on it.

From my vantage point, Michelle Obama has been a fine first lady, helping kids and articulating important issues like nutrition. For ABC News to paint me as critical of her is flat-out dishonest.

All of us have a lot riding on the presidential election this year. It's about America's future. So, let's cut the crap, shall we?

From O'Reilly's discussion with Ingraham:

O'REILLY: Now for the top story tonight, reaction. Joining us from Washington from the Ingraham Angle, Ms. Laura. You're not surprised at this, are you?

INGRAHAM: No, Bill. And, frankly, I'm shocked that you would be accused of saying anything critical of the first lady because, if you remember, the summer of 2010, rewind. When I was on for The Obama Diaries, with my book where I wrote, you know, these accounts of what Michelle's thought process was in the White House. I made the point that I thought the whole mom-in-chief thing was a big cover and a big ruse -- that yes, she's glamorous, of course she's smart, of course she's charismatic, all of that's a given, seems to be a great mom -- but that she was really aggressively pushing policy in the White House. Immigration reform, The New York Times now tells us. I was focused more on this child nutrition thing, which ended up being a big payoff to SEIU with the way it's being regulated in our schools. And you rose to the first lady's defense and you said, "Oh, now the garden is a problem, Ingraham." So if they should be coming after anyone, Bill, I'm happy to take the bullet for you.

O'REILLY: Well, that's right, but I'm the big dog, you see.

INGRAHAM: I'm a pretty big dog.

O'REILLY: And here's what happened. I worked at ABC News, and here -- here's exactly what happened. They had some inexperienced correspondent -- I don't know even know who she is -- on it. But they had a producer. Producer was lazy. Producer looked at -- you know, Googled Michelle Obama. Bing, Media Matters comes up right away. He takes the thing right off. Doesn't do any contextual about it. When did it happen? Why did it happen? What was the --

INGRAHAM: Oh, that's so -- why are you surprised? Why are you surprised by this?

O'REILLY: No, I'm not, but I want the people to understand this is what happens all the time. So then ABC News on their World News broadcast reaches, what, 8 million people? OK, they throw my picture up there with the Fox News Channel underneath. And how are they supposed to know? How are these people supposed to know what the history of it is? They don't.

INGRAHAM: Well, Bill -- Bill -- but here's what I -- here's my question, which I think is more interesting. with all due respect. Why do you think that there's no validity to this point that Michelle Obama is aggressively and somewhat effectively meddling in policy, even though she's an unelected official? That's what The New York Times book states on immigration reform and health care, that there was this big tension.

O'REILLY: I didn't read the book so I can't know -- I didn't read the book so I can't know that.

INGRAHAM: Well, yeah, but you're making this --

O'REILLY: Look, and that's a debatable issue. Look, she may be --

INGRAHAM: Yeah, but look, all I'm saying is I think -- I think you are a little more correct the first time you said what you said than you are in your kind of three and a half years later.

O'REILLY: I don't think she -- look, I don't think she's an angry black woman I don't. All right, I didn't know her --

INGRAHAM: No but nobody is talking about black. Who is talking about that?

O'REILLY: Three and a half years ago -- three and a half years ago nobody knew her. And she had made that comment that everybody went crazy, "the first time I'm proud of my country." So we're probing to find out who she is, and a I asked the question. But look, you raise an interesting point. It could be that Michelle Obama is the power behind the throne --

INGRAHAM: Yeah, it sounds like it.

O'REILLY: -- and that she's doing a lot of these things to put forth a political agenda. Absolutely that could be true. We're open to that discussion anytime. I'll give you the last word.

INGRAHAM: She has sharp elbows, Bill. She has sharp elbows, but she's also glamorous. The two can also, you know, can coexist at one time. She can be beautiful and a great mom, but she can also be a radical leftist who has a bit of an entitlement mentality, using the taxpayers' jet to go off a couple days early and not stay behind with her husband when a lot of people are struggling in this country. That doesn't look good to Americans who want to believe that the first lady and the president empathize with their plight. I think that's a legitimate discussion point, and I think that's, you know, that's a question.

O'REILLY: Here's the bottom line: You should have been on that report, not me.

INGRAHAM: Good. I -- no, the black thing has nothing to do with it. That's a game that they are playing, and that's an old game, and you called them out on it.

O'REILLY: All right. Laura Ingraham, everybody.

Right-Wing Media Use Kantor's Book To Race Bait About Michelle Obama

by Jeremy Holden/media matters

Right-wing media figures are distorting a passage in the just-released book, The Obamas, by New York Times correspondent Jodi Kantor, to suggest Michelle Obama harbors antipathy toward "white Irish Catholics." In fact, in the book, Michelle Obama never makes such an assertion -- the phrase was injected into the book by Kantor herself and should in no way be portrayed as the thoughts of Michelle Obama. 

Chicago Sun-Times Washington bureau chief Lynn Sweet cited passages in Kantor's book Monday and reported, "When Michelle Obama worked in Mayor Daley's City Hall in the early 1990s, she was "distressed" by how a small group of 'white Irish Catholic' families -- the Daleys, the Hynes and the Madigans -- 'locked up' power in Illinois."

While the right-wing media have seized on this quote to suggest that Michelle Obama had a particular problem with "white Irish Catholics" wielding power, the full context of the passage makes clear that the concern Kantor ascribed to Michelle Obama's was with entrenched power and political dynasties.

Indeed, the phrase "white Irish Catholic" is Kantor's. It is not sourced to Michelle Obama.

In her book, Kantor wrote:

[Michelle Obama] particularly resented the way power in Illinois was locked up generation after generation by a small group of families, all white Irish Catholic - the Daleys of Chicago, the Hyneses and Madigans statewide. "Someone doesn't have the right to be elected because of whose womb they came out of," she would say a few years later to Dan Shomon, her husband's political advisor. "You shouldn't have a better chance if you're a Kennedy than if you're an Obama. Why is it that they have the right to this?" [The Obamas, p. 18]

It is no surprise that Kantor's thoughts, and not those of Michelle Obama herself, would come to be used against the first lady. White House press secretary Eric Schultz explicitly criticized Kantor for injecting her own thoughts into a book ostensibly about the first family, noting that Kantor had not spoken to either President Obama or Michelle Obama since 2009: 

"The book, an overdramatization of old news, is about a relationship between two people whom the author has not spoken to in years. The author last interviewed the Obamas in 2009 for a magazine piece, and did not interview them for this book," Schultz's statement reads. "The emotions, thoughts and private moments described in the book, though often seemingly ascribed to the President and First Lady, reflect little more than the author's own thoughts. These second-hand accounts are staples of every Administration in modern political history and often exaggerated."

Washington Post media reporter Erik Wemple has said that the narrative in Kantor's book "suffers from the lack of input from the principals." 

Nevertheless, it did not take long for the phrase "white Irish Catholic" to make its way through the right-wing echo chamber.

Gateway Pundit's Jim Hoft linked to Sweet's post and accused Michelle Obama of being "'distressed' about the power of 'white Irish Catholics in Illinois." The passage was also quickly trumpeted by Drudge and Fox Nation.

From Kantor's The Obamas:

In 1991, Michelle left Sidley to work as an aide to Chicago's mayor, Richard M. Daley, the new and still unproven heir to his father's machine. She and Barack were nervous about the job. Daley senior had opposed the desegregation of schools and presided over an ethically challenged political operation, and the new mayor's first run for the job had ended in ugly racial divisions. "Having grown up in a proud African American family, she wasn't sure if there was a conflict between her values and his," said Valerie Jarrett, the mayoral aide who recruited Michelle and became a mentor to both Obamas. Jarrett, young, elegant, and educated at top schools, was an example of how the younger Daley intended to be different. She was from one of the best-established African American families in Hyde Park, a generally anti-Daley neighborhood, but she believed in gaining power to change things from above.

Some of Michelle's work was straightforward, like helping downtown businesses during a massive flood, but when she served as a liaison to agencies that provided for the city's most vulnerable -- seniors, the disabled, and children -- she was distressed by how heavily the projects were influenced by connections and favors. It was "the ugly underbelly in city government on how decisions are made -- or not made," Kevin Thompson, who worked with her, said. Underlying issues of poverty and education had little chance of being addressed. She disapproved of how closely Daley held power, surrounding himself with three or four people who seemed to let few outsiders in -- a concern she would echo years later with her own husband. At work, Michelle always seemed crisp and professional, but she could be harshly critical of the mayor's administration behind closed doors.

She particularly resented the way power in Illinois was locked up generation after generation by a small group of families, all white Irish Catholic -- the Daleys of Chicago, the Hyneses and Madigans statewide. "Someone doesn't have the right to be elected because of whose womb they came out of," she would say a few years later to Dan Shomon, her husband's political advisor. "You shouldn't have a better chance if you're a Kennedy than if you're an Obama. Why is it that they have the right to this?"

She lasted only two years before moving on to a job leading a program that spoke volumes about her conclusions. It was called Public Allies, and its aim was to train a new generation of urban leaders from more diverse backgrounds -- an alternative to the established power structure. Two years later, in 1995, Valerie Jarrett was unceremoniously dumped from her post: she was standing in the way of powerful developers, who convinced the mayor to let her go, and even though Jarrett and the mayor were close, he never spoke to her about the decision. The Obamas were horrified, their worst suspicions about that world confirmed. [The Obamas, 17-18]