June, 13 2011, 04:28pm EDT
Fox Must Take Action After Bolling's Overt Racism
Fox Business Host and Potential Beck Replacement Calls Black White House Guests "Hoods in the Hizzy"
WASHINGTON
Today, Media Matters for America released a statement in response to Fox Business host Eric Bolling saying that President Obama has a habit of hosting "hoods in the hizzy," in reference to White House visits by the president of Gabon and hip-hop artist Common.
WATCH THE FULL SEGMENT HERE: https://mediamatters.org/blog/201106110002
"Calling the president of Gabon and Common 'hoods in the hizzy' is not colorful commentary, it is overt racism," said Ari Rabin-Havt, Executive Vice President at Media Matters for America. "Fox had nothing to say when Bolling accused the president of 'chugging 40's' or when he implied Kenya was Obama's 'world.' They cannot stay silent on this. There need to be consequences for this type of rhetoric."
BACKGROUND:
On the June 10 edition of Fox Business' Follow the Money, Bolling discussed the White House hosting the president of Gabon, saying, "So what's with all the hoods in the hizzy? A month after the White House hosted the rapper Common, who glorifies violence on cops, the president opened his doors to one of Africa's most evil dictators. Here's Ali Bongo, the Gabonese president, who's been accused of human rights violations and plundering billions of his country's dollars." Earlier in the show, Bolling teased the segment by saying: "Guess who's coming to dinner? A dictator. Mr. Obama shares a laugh with one of Africa's kleptocrats. It's not the first time he's had a hoodlum in the hizzouse." As he said this, footage of Common aired onscreen.
The inclusion of Common refers to the right-wing media's ginned-up smear of him as a "'cop killer' rapper" in the days before his recent participation at a White House poetry event.
Bolling responded to criticism of his comments via Facebook and Twitter Sunday night, saying, in part, that he was being smeared and that there "isn't one racist molecule in my body."
Bolling has been mentioned as a possible replacement for Fox News host Glenn Beck once his show ends on June 30. He is also a regular analyst for Fox News' "straight news programs" despite the fact that he has accused the president of "chugging a few 40's" instead of responding to the Joplin disaster, raised questions about the president's long-form birth certificate after it was released, and implied that Kenya was Obama's "world."
WATCH THE FULL SEGMENT HERE: https://mediamatters.org/blog/201106110002
Media Matters for America is a Web-based, not-for-profit, 501(c)(3) progressive research and information center dedicated to comprehensively monitoring, analyzing, and correcting conservative misinformation in the U.S. media.
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