Conservative political commentator Glenn Beck uses his media platform to stoke racial anxieties and fuel hate groups. He called President Barack Obama a racist in July 2009: “This president, I think, has exposed himself over and over again as a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture… I’m not saying he doesn’t like white people, I’m saying he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist.”
Sean Hannity’s extreme positions on race issues may put him on par with Rush Limbaugh. The Fox News political pundit doesn’t hesitate to leverage racial tension and his xenophobic fan base to boost ratings. Jumping at the opportunity to use Obama’s comments on the Trayvon Martin case for race baiting, Hannity contorted the president’s statements in this fashion:
“Now the president’s saying, ‘Trayvon could’ve been me 35 years ago.’ This is a particularly helpful comment. Is that the president admitting that, I guess, because what, he was part of the Choom Gang and he smoked pot and he did a little blow — I’m not sure how to interpret because we know that Trayvon had been smoking pot that night.”