Time for Beck to Back Up 'Racist' Jab or Apologize

As advertisers flee, the facts become taboo

By Matt Cantor, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 2, 2009 3:43 PM CDT

(Newser) – The boycott of Glenn Beck by America's biggest advertisers has reached unprecedented levels, writes Eric Boehlert for Media Matters. "All of Beck's big-time advertisers have fled. All of them." And yet Beck and Fox News seem to have a collective case of amnesia and won't acknowledge the reason—Beck called Obama a racist—on air. Boehlert challenges Beck to do one of two things: Back up the statement on his show or apologize.

An apology is "conceivable but unlikely," writes Boehlert. "What's really going on here, of course, is that Beck has stepped so far in it with his 'racist' crack that he can no longer see the tops of his shoes." Instead, he's playing the victim, cooking up a lame story about how he's the victim of a smear campaign by boycott organizer ColorOfChange. "Good luck with that. I'm sure that by playing dumb about the 'racist' controversy, and by ignoring the comment while wallowing in a permanent state of victimhood, former blue-chip advertisers will soon come sprinting back."

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In this May 5, 2009 file photo, newscaster Glenn Beck attends the Time 100 Gala, a celebration of TIME Magazine's 100 most influential people in the world. (AP Photo/Evan Agostini)

In this March 12, 2003 file photo, Glenn Beck is seen after recording promotional announcements for an upcoming "Rally for America" in Bala Cynwyd, Pa. (AP Photo/Mike Mergen)

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Beck's comments. (ConservativeNewMedia)

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The host has never apologized, so it seems logical that he stands behind the claim. And if he stands behind it, why doesn't he set aside a few minutes on each program to detail how Obama is a racist? - Eric Boehlert

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Time for Beck to Back Up 'Racist' Jab or Apologize