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Glenn Beck suffers financial fall-out from calling Obama ‘racist’
At least 20 leading advertisers have pulled out of the right-wing commentator’s Fox News show
It seems Glenn Beck, the conservative commentator and one of Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation's rising stars, may be too right-wing even for Fox News. For after Beck called President Barack Obama a racist last month, 20 of Fox's biggest advertisers such as Wal-Mart and Procter & Gamble have boycotted his daily show, keen to distance themselves from his controversial comments.
Since Beck (pictured) joined Fox News in January, his regular attacks on Obama have helped the channel, which has a mainly conservative audience, achieve record ratings. Fox News presenters are increasingly the voice of opposition to Obama's policies and the cable news channel's viewership has risen 11 per cent since Obama took office.
But the baby-faced presenter seems to have gone too far on July 28, when he said Obama had revealed himself to hold a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture" after the President said Cambridge, Massachusetts police "acted stupidly" in arresting professor Henry Louis Gates. Beck went on: "I'm not saying that he doesn't like white people. I'm saying that he has a problem. This guy is, I believe, a racist."
An African-American online political group called Color of Change is spearheading the campaign against Beck. It has already gained 145,000 signatures on its petition asking the Fox and Friends host's advertisers to stop supporting him. On Monday alone, eight leading brands joined the campaign, including national retailers Best Buy and CVS.
Last week, when an initial 12 companies pulled out, a Fox News spokeswoman told the New York Times that the boycott had had no financial effect. "The advertisers referenced have all moved their spots from Beck to other day parts on the network, so there has been no revenue lost." ·
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As Lawrence Lessig said at the end of July, the American people are living in a 'post-Obama hangover' thinking the world would change as soon as he took office. That isn't the case and those so optimistic to think it would, at the click of his fingers, judged wrongly. Lessig is a supporter of Obama, as am I, but the work he has to do isn't actioned by him alone - both Congress and the Senate must work with the President to see change...and right now the only thing that needs to change is Congress itself. The interest groups on the Hill have far too much money and power to cast their influence into the ring of change and this must stop.
As for Beck his right-wing turn after leaving CNN is shocking. I don't care if Fox hasn't lost revenue from the companies pulling their commercials during his show and moving them to different time slots. The simple fact is that even they can't agree with Beck's position and that should say something. No where better is Beck's change of nature presented than on the Daily Show with Jon Stewart last week...check the archives and you will know what I mean.
Obama plays the race card whenever it suits him, e.g. his picture does not look like those of other presidents, it was he who jumped into the incident of the cop arresting his friend , the professor at Harvard, etc. He seems to be very thin skinned. Glenn Beck was only mirroring what Obama himself said. During the election campaign it was touted that if Obama was elected the lion would lie down with the lamb and there would be no more racism. The opposite of this is occurring. The Messiah has not worked any miracles. the world is more divided than ever.
BECK IS A VERY VERY SICK MAN.