Willy Cunningham is Cincinnati’s own version of Bill O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter all wrapped into one. Wait – he is probably worse than that. Anyways, the McCain campaign decided to have him speak at an event today. Here is what happened:
Republican John McCain quickly denounced the comments of a radio talk show host who while warming up a campaign crowd referred repeatedly to Barack Hussein Obama and called the Democrat a “hack, Chicago-style” politician.
Hussein is Obama’s middle name, but talk show host Bill Cunningham used it three times as he addressed the crowd before the likely Republican nominee’s appearance.
“Now we have a hack, Chicago-style Daley politician who is picturing himself as change. When he gets done with you, all you’re going to have in your pocket is change,” Cunningham said as the audience roared.
The time will come, Cunningham added, when the media will “peel the bark off Barack Hussein Obama” and tell the truth about his relationship with indicted fundraiser Antoin “Tony” Rezko and how Obama got “sweetheart deals” in Chicago.
McCain wasn’t on stage nor in the building when Cunningham made the comments, but he quickly distanced himself from them and the talk show host after finishing his speech. McCain spoke to a couple hundred people at Memorial Hall in downtown Cincinnati.
This isn’t the first time Cunningham has drawn fire for his actions. Following the riots in Cincinnati, racial tensions were high. How did Cunningham respond when an African American die in police custody?
In December 2003, Cunningham drew more fire for making fun of Nathaniel Jones (no relation to the federal judge), an African-American resident of Cincinnati who died after violently resisting police outside a White Castle restaurant; video of the incident again inflamed the local African-American community. Jones, who weighed more than 350 lb. (159 kg), was found to have died of an enlarged heart, and various narcotics were found to be present in his body while violently resisting arrest at the time of his death, which may have contributed to his reaction to police efforts to subdue him. Cunningham made fun of Jones’ obesity and apparent drug use in a skit on his show, which prompted various local civil rights groups to call for his resignation or firing.
Cunningham is a disgrace and the fact that the McCain campaign invited him to speak shows their true colors.