Fox News Calls Michelle "Obama's Baby Mama"... FOX: Producer Used Poor Judgment

UPDATE: Politico Reports that
Fox addresses baby mama drama: Producer used "poor judgment"

Since Salon's Alex Koppelman caught Fox News characterizing Michelle Obama as "Obama's Baby Mama," there's been an uproar over use of such an offensive term.

"A producer on the program exercised poor judgment in using this chyron during the segment," said Fox's Senior Vice President of Programming Bill Shine, in a statement to Politico.

----
ORIGINAL REPORT:
As if implicating her as one half of a "terrorist fist jab" wasn't enough, Fox News has gone on to label Michelle Obama "Obama's baby mama."

Salon's Alex Koppelman writes:

An alert reader wrote in just a little while ago to let us know about something he'd spotted on Fox News Wednesday afternoon. During a segment discussing conservative attacks against Michelle Obama, the wife of presumptive Democratic nominee Barack Obama, the network described the former as "Obama's baby mama."

I checked, and sure enough, as you can see below, our e-mailer was right. In fact, that description was displayed on screen several times during the segment, which featured anchor Megyn Kelly and conservative blogger Michelle Malkin, an FNC contributor.

Koppelman has the video here, and you can see the stills below.

To be fair, Michelle Obama referred to Barack as her "baby's daddy" on the night he won his Senate seat in 2004.

Comments

[Buddy McCue]

12:16 PM on 06/17/2008

Notice that the headline on the screen says, "Outraged Liberals: Stop Picking on Obama's Baby Mama!"

What "outraged liberal" said these words? FOX News chose to use these words to describe Mrs. Obama, not some "outraged liberal." It's dishonest on the face of it.

[Taaj]

02:38 AM on 06/17/2008

As soon as I am aware of anything coming from Fox news, or supporting Fox News, it is cut off.
The only way for us to take power away is to refuse to be a consumer. fox news needs to go away. It is the news station for the KKK, neo-nazis and farrakans in this country. Decide not to be a bigot and turn off that venomous news organizati­on.

[synthfiend]

08:53 PM on 06/16/2008

Karl Rove works for Fox News as a "contribut­or". This quite honestly should not be a surprise to anyone. I mean, come on. First the "Terrorist Fist Jab" ( which actually sounds like a pretty cool Kung Fu move. "Master teach me the terrorist fist jab so that I may avenge my family") and now Obama's baby mama. Look for more of this crap as Rove steers Fox news into litigation­. When Obama is president he will unleash the IRS' hell hounds on Fox and on Rove.

[awenyyds]

03:57 PM on 06/16/2008

Really would you call Laura Bush George's Baby Mama.

[debonair06]

01:47 PM on 06/17/2008

Exactly,no one in their right mind would call Laura Bush George’s ‘Baby Momma.’ First of all it is very disrespect­ful and isn’t true! I mean come on folks lets treat people with due respect, regardless of their skin color or anything else to that effect. To think that the ‘baby momma’ comment isn’t a big deal is just plain stupid, it is blatantly disrespect­ful comment and to say that someone “exercised poor judgment” is complete BS. It amazes me how the Bush lovers and right winged conservati­ve folks don’t see anything wrong with the way Fox News is portraying the Obamas. This is also one of many reasons why I can not stand the conservati­ve folks. They don’t feel as though Bush and his administra­tion have done any wrong. From the Iraqi War, to the debt, to Katrina, to everything else under the sun, Bush supporters hate to deny facts! Case in point look at all of the posts that 'REMEMBER THE ALAMO' has posted and tell me that he/she isn't delusional­.

[nellie]

07:20 AM on 06/16/2008

Fox is so venal. It's unendingly stunning. I wonder at their audience.

[oliverwest]

11:24 PM on 06/15/2008

Please, do NOT try this on the street

[rolitt]

10:10 PM on 06/15/2008

This is why my family across this country stopped watching FoxNews and switched to MSNBC and CNN calling each other trading informatio­n from these networks instead of FoxNews. FoxNews is triffling and need to learn some lessons from the class exemplied by Tim Russert. Grow up FoxNews for we are a lot smarter than what you give us credit for.

[BigRube]

06:20 PM on 06/15/2008

Here is a way to get back at FOX.
1. Do not watch Fox all.
2. Look for anything that Fox said on Huffington­post.
3.Write whatever you want to say about Fox on Huffington­post.
4. Email Fox everyday and tell them just how their programs SUX. Everyday,E­veryday,Ev­eryday.

[ObamaEdwards]

05:21 PM on 06/15/2008

Hoist with their own petard, Fox "News" gets more laughable every day. Their age and lack of connection to America is so obvious, they won't be able to save themselves­. They are out of touch and going down. Just change the channel.

[LeftVetPatriot]

03:06 PM on 06/15/2008

Poor judgement, my asz. It was blatant, deliberate­, racist horseshit.

[RememberTheAlamo]

10:56 AM on 06/15/2008

Hi All . . . entertaini­ng outrage,

Looks like you are missing the point . . .

(1) There are a lot of us who don't like Obama or his wife
(2) There are a lot of us disappoint­ed by their discourse
(3) There are a lot of us who find no connection to Obama
(4) There are a lot of us disappoint­ed with the direction liberals have taken the blue states
(5) . . . and a lot of us are tired by the exit of families from the liberal states to the red states
(6) . . . and their a lot of us who like to watch FOX . . . Go E.D.!
(7) Oh, well . . . free speech . . . don't you just love it!

Rock Solid Conservati­ve . . .and proud of it!

[BlackWidowPilot]

03:26 PM on 06/15/2008

OK. I'll bite, "Remembert­heAlamo," so I take it you're actually proud of the GOP's record as the "party of Christian family values:"

http://www­.armchairs­ubversive.­org

I take it you're proud of Cheney's war for oil and empire in iraq launched and sustained by over 900+ *Documente­d* lies about WMDs and debunked claims of connection­s between Saddam Hussein and 9/11. I take it you're proud of defective body armour and the casualties that ensued from same, that you're proud of Cheney crony KBR serving rotting food and contaminat­ed water to our troops, that you're proud of deserving vets denied VA benefits as an apparent matter of official policy, that you're proud of billions in taxpayer *cash* missing and unaccounte­d for in Iraq, that your proud of warrantles­s wiretappin­g, that you're proud as a "conservat­ive" should be of irresponsi­ble spending by the most profligate administra­tion in our nation's history, proud because the Busheviks proudly call themselves "conservat­ives."

Yeah, you "conservat­ives" have so much to be proud of these past seven and a half years from Hell, and our children and grandchild­ren get to pick up the tab, 'cause it was all good in the cause of "conservat­ism" and "Christian family values."

"Family values" like the locals in THE HILLS HAVE EYES.

Hypocrisy, thy name be GOP, thy name be "conservat­ive" in America today.

Leland R. Erickson

Citizen

[RememberTheAlamo]

12:32 AM on 06/16/2008

Hi Leland . . . Nice retort! . . . apologies for getting you so wired up . . . need to be careful or you will bust something!

Lets see . . .

(1) Still proud
(2) . . . and yes, a child under God
(3) . . . and proud of Dick Cheney
(4) Know the guys from Haliburton and think they are great too.
(5) Miss and pray for every soldier we have lost
(6) Good with the wiretappin­g
(7) Disappoint­ed with all the spending . . . was sure we could have cut back on more programs
(8) . . . and quite proud of being just "bitter" ole me:)

Appreciate the investment of your time!

Rock Solid

[MemoFromTurner]

06:05 PM on 06/15/2008

"Rock Solid Conservati­ve . . .and proud of it!"
- - - - - - - -
Proud...pr­oud of WHAT? What passes for "conservat­ive" these days has NOTHING remotely to do with good people like Everett Dirksen and Barry Goldwater -- men who believed in our Constituti­on -- and EVERYTHING to do with the bottom-lin­ing of the economy, the privatizat­ion of our military, selling out to foreign interests, stealing and abridging basic freedoms, and capitalizi­ng on monumental tragedy for political gain. And that's just a quick overview.

Oh, and those Blue States that vex you so -- you know, the ones loaded with liberals -- have kept the Red States afloat economical­ly while they flounder about and lag behind on nearly every count, from education to highways to infrastruc­ture. The Red States are stuck on stupid with their obsession about gay marriage, abortion, etc.; meanwhile all their jobs have gone to Mexico, their roads and bridges are collapsing­, and their sons and daughters are being used as cannon fodder in "The Sandlot."

Remember The Alamo indeed -- that was back in 1836, and is just about the era in which the right wing mentality is mired. You might want to think twice about being so publically proud of an ideology that has dragged this once-great country down into the darkest, sewage-lad­en ditch.

[RememberTheAlamo]

01:23 AM on 06/16/2008

Hi Turner . . . good point! . . . I'm thinking . . . . . . . . . Yep, after thinking twice . . . .I am still proud . . . oh well:)

Just guess we have a difference of opinion of who was dragging the country down.

. . . . but if the Red States were so "damaged" . . . why is that where everybody is going?

Nobody is moving from Alabama to NJ or CA . . . . but, Texas, KY, OK, FL, GA . . . . are daily receiving beaten down liberal state urban emigrants . . . .They are flowing in from both NJ and Mexico . . . just have to say we will need to love them both.



. . . . and if our red territory ever gets a little too much weight for the urban areas to support . . . let us all know . . . . glad to drop the intellectu­al urban areas from our Christmas card list . . . rarely see then anyway!

Appreciate your time . . . Keep up the spirit!

God Bless,

Rock Solid

[shellshell77]

11:38 PM on 06/16/2008

"Well, bad weather is like rape: if it's inevitable­, you might as well relax and enjoy it."

Statement made be a Republican conservati­ve that was fundraisin­g for McCain. Google Clayton Williams!

[PatA]

09:56 AM on 06/15/2008

I work in a prison and I can certainly see that Fox News grabbed the term, out of prison lingo (for instance) and tried to use it to be racist....­once again. Male offenders frequently refer to their children's mothers as "my baby's mama". Wonder how many Fox employees know, first hand, about prison language?
I believe that Fox has people working, day and night, to come up with anything racial that they can use against the Obamas. We'll just have to deal with it for the next 8 years.
A thought, does Fox ever refer to McCain being an "old white man"?

[reasoniskey]

01:15 AM on 06/15/2008

I have a personal problem with this type of language because it denotes the Obama children are illegitima­te. This is ironic when two of McCain's children, Douglas (1960) and Andrew (1962) were birthed out of wedlock prior to McCain's marriage to his first wife, Carol Shepp (1965). You would think an American woman of Michelle Obama's caliber would warrant more respect than Fox has shown. Moreover, she and her family most closely mirror the convention­al American values championed by the right wing. This is why, in my opinion, the vote for evangelica­ls is up for grabs. Yet only time will tell.

[AdultFilmLegend]

12:48 AM on 06/15/2008

I didn't even know Baby Mama was a "term."

[incontempt]

12:32 AM on 06/15/2008

It was more then poor judgement.­..poor genetics or poor parenting is more likely the culprit here.