Press Release

Lipstick Controversy Latest Example of McMedia Smears Against Obama

Some in Media Call McCain Camp Out for Baseless Smear, Yet Coverage of the "Faux Controversy" Continues...

Washington, DC -- Following Sen. Barack Obama's reference to Sen. John McCain's policies and political tactics in his comment, "[Y]ou can put lipstick on a pig; it's still a pig," several media outlets have falsely suggested that Obama was using the expression as a sexist jab at Gov. Sarah Palin. In fact, the expression Obama used has been a staple of political rhetoric for years, and as some of the same outlets have noted, McCain himself used the expression in 2007 and 2008 to describe Sen. Hillary Clinton's health-care proposal.

Some in the media have condemned the controversy. However, many have devoted significant time to the story while missing important facts.

"What many in the media have failed to report is that this is a common expression that both Obama and McCain have used previously," said J. Jioni Palmer, a Media Matters Action Network spokesman. "Instead, the media have once again fallen for the McCain campaign's talking point hook, line, and sinker, repeating the false charge that Obama's remark was a sexist attack on Palin. It begs the question: Are no attacks from the McCain campaign ridiculous enough that the media won't drop everything and run with them?"

Push Back By Some in Media Against "Faux Controversy"

Time magazine's Mark Halperin: On the September 9 edition of CNN's Anderson Cooper 360, Halperin characterized the recent media attention to Obama's comments as "a low point in the day ... and one of the low days of our collective coverage of this campaign." Halperin also asserted: "Stop the madness. I mean, this is, I think -- with all due respect to the program's focus on this and to what [CNN senior political analyst] David [Gergen] just said -- I think this is the press just absolutely playing into the McCain campaign's crocodile tears." Halperin went on to say: "They know exactly what he was saying. It's an expression. And this is a victory for the McCain campaign, in the sense that, every day, they can make this a pig fight in the mud. It's good for them, because it's reducing Barack Obama's message even more."

NBC News political director Chuck Todd: On the September 10 edition of MSNBC's Morning Joe, Todd said, "I think the McCain campaign is laughing -- laughing their butts off this morning that any of us have taken the bait on this lipstick thing. I mean, this is a joke. It is laughable, and you know, look, our mutual friend, [MSNBC executive producer] Chris Licht, and I were having an off-air debate about whether we ... should be airing the Web ad, because it's such a faux controversy. It's made up out of whole cloth by the McCain campaign. Hey, look, this is what they're good at. They're good at winning these news cycles, and ... they have beaten the Obama campaign on these little -- what I call -- sort of shiny metal object days, right? They're able to say, 'Oh, look, shiny metal object.' "

Time's Jay Carney: On the September 10 edition of Morning Joe, Carney stated that the McCain campaign's claim that Obama's comments represented "sexism" was "false" and "ridiculous." Host Joe Scarborough asked Carney what he referred to as a "journalist question": "Obviously, a lot of people would be saying, 'Well, they shouldn't even respond to this lipstick attack from the McCain campaign," but it's extraordinary when you have one candidate calling another candidate for president 'sexist.' ... How do you not respond to that? How do you not talk about that?" Carney responded: "Well, this is the cynical brilliance of the McCain campaign strategy. They're throwing this stuff out there. It's false. It's ridiculous. It's a common phrase, but they know they've got Obama trapped." Carney also asserted: "I mean, it's just -- it's false, and it's fake, but it's designed to throw Gorilla dust up in the air and force the public to focus on these issues and wonder whether or not Barack Obama is acceptable as president."

The Atlantic Monthly's Marc Ambinder: Under the headline, "Obama Did Not Call Sarah Palin A Pig," Ambinder notes: "The McCain campaign has little respect for Obama, but they don't think he is stupid. And the only way one can conclude that Obama meant to refer to Gov. Sarah Palin as a pig is to have concluded that Obama is as dumb as a doornail." Ambinder goes on to note that McCain has used the phrase in the past when referring to Sen. Clinton's health-care plan.

So Why Are So Many in the Press
Still Reporting this Story?