RRC Archives

Summary: On his Fox News program, Bill O'Reilly claimed that George Soros has built a "complicated political operation" in which "Soros and a few other wealthy radicals who help him are funneling money into the political process" by funding Media Matters, which "feeds its propaganda to some mainstream media people." In fact, Soros has never given money to Media Matters, either directly or through another organization.

On the April 23 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh claimed that Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) made a "demeaning reference to the fact that [African-Americans are] janitors, or custodial workers, or cleaning people" during her April 20 speech at the National Action Network annual convention by saying the following: "The abuses that have gone on in the last six years -- I don't think we know the half of it yet. You know, when I walk into the Oval Office in January 2009, I'm afraid I'm going to lift up the rug and I'm going to see so much stuff under there! You know, what is it about us always having to clean up after people?"

Limbaugh did not air the subsequent lines from Clinton's speech: "But this is not just going to be picking up socks off the floor. This is going to be about cleaning out the government." According to an April 21 article in The Journal News (Westchester County, New York), Clinton's audience was "composed largely of black women." There is no evidence in either the excerpt Limbaugh aired or in what he left out that Clinton was talking to audience members as though they were "janitors, or custodial workers, or cleaning people." Rather, she appeared to be referring to the fact that women have traditionally borne the responsibility of housecleaning. Indeed, the News reported that this portion of Clinton's speech "got some of her loudest applause." Limbaugh acknowledged that Clinton received a "big standing 'O' and so forth."