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Painting Obama In Black And White

President Obama in Ohio in 2012 (AP)
President Obama in Ohio in 2012 (AP)

SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico — Heidi Wys, an adviser to Puerto Rico's most powerful female lawmaker sent a tweet to President Barack Obama urging him to buy the first lady a double-banana sundae “and take her to your homeland, Kenya!” (Read the full story here)

In fact, President Obama was born in Hawaii. This is one of many insulting, racist comments the president has had to endure.

From Birth To Donald

Barack Obama’s hand was barely off the inaugural Bible when the “birthers” began trying to delegitimize his right to be president by demanding to see his birth certificate. This continued through his first three and a half years, climaxed by Donald Trump’s publicity drive. Offensive as it was, Obama finally released his long-form birth certificate, but not before he poked fun at Trump as he sat in the audience at a Washington press corps dinner.

“No one is happier to put this birth certificate matter to rest than ‘The Donald,’ ” Obama said. “That’s because he can finally get back to focusing on the issues that matter. Like, did we fake the moon landing? What really happened in Roswell? And where are Biggie and Tupac?”

Food Stamps

Obama was repeatedly called "the best food stamp president in American history" by the former speaker of the U.S. House. (Memo to Newt Gingrich: there were more people on food stamps when George W. Bush was president.)

Lest you think Gingrich wasn’t talking about race, he said, “I will go to the NAACP convention and tell the African-American community why they should demand paychecks instead of food stamps.”

Not American

Former White House chief of staff for President Bush Senior and major Romney spinner John Sununu recently declared the president was ignorant of what it means to be an America. Himself an Arab born in Havana, Sununu declared that the president “has to learn how to be an American.” He apologized — to Wolf Blitzer, not Barack Obama.

Beneath Contempt

No modern president has had “You lie!” hurled at him during the State of the Union speech by a member of Congress, a Republican. Or had a justice of the Supreme Court question his commitment to enforcing the law and protecting our borders, as Antonin Scalia did.

Or have the chief federal judge in Montana, Richard Ceball, forward an email to friends that contained a disgusting joke about President Obama’s mother! Ceball was appointed by President George W. Bush.

Web Of Lies

A group that tracks racist attacks on the Internet has found Obama has been “portrayed as a shoeshine man, an Islamic terrorist and a chimp... The image of his altered face has been shown on a [fake] product called Obama Waffles in the manner of Aunt Jemima and Uncle Ben. Marilyn Davenport, an elected official in the Republican Party of Orange County, Calif., circulated an email depicting Obama and his parents as chimps.”

From Hitler To Tour Guide

No president has ever been compared publicly to Hitler, let alone by a nationally syndicated radio talk show host. Rush Limbaugh said the Obama health care plan is “right out of Adolph Hitler’s playbook.” He also said that“if Obama weren’t black, he’d be a tour guide in Honolulu.”


Dan Payne is WBUR’s Democratic analyst. For more political commentary, go to our Payne & Domke page.

This program aired on August 3, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Dan Payne

Dan Payne Democratic Political Analyst
Dan Payne is a Democratic political analyst for WBUR.

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