Obama and the recycled rumor
The Washington Post
What happened
The Washington Post’s ombudsman promised to review the newspaper’s decision to publish last week a story about rumors that Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama was a “Muslim plant” in a plot against America. The Post’s media critic, Howard Kurtz, said the story failed to tell readers plainly that a central part of the smear—that Obama once attended a madrassa—was false.
What the commentators said
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
“The Great American Smear is back,” said the Los Angeles Times in an editorial (free registration). “As always, the smears play to the ugly underside of American politics: prejudice and hatred.” In 2000, it was John McCain who was targeted—with rumors that he had “fathered a dark-skinned child out of wedlock.” Now as before, “presidential candidates of both parties have a duty to denounce not only the smear against Obama but the bigotry that underlies it.”
Let’s hope all the yelling pays off, said Greg Sargent in Talking Points Memo’s Horses Mouth blog. The Post story—which basically recycled “Obama-is-a-Muslim” rumors first covered by FOX News—has already been criticized by two of the paper’s own reporters, and it’s nice that the ombudsman is weighing in. Maybe the next time they report on this the Post’s editors will do more than reprint Obama’s denials, and mention that the “recycled” rumors are false.
This garbage is “too demonstrably false to survive endless reruns even in the Swift-boating era,” said Frank Rich in The New York Times (free registration). The truth is that “despite the thuggish name-calling of a few right-wing die-hards” many conservatives are “disarmed” by Obama’s charm and his message of hope, and there’s no sign they “would remotely know how” to counter him if he took his party’s nomination.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Death from above: Drones upend rules of war in Ukraine
Feature The world's militaries are paying close attention to drone use in the Russia-Ukraine war
-
Supreme Court: Ceding more power to Trump?
Feature SCOTUS has given Trump a victory by ending nationwide injunctions, limiting judges' power to block presidential orders
-
What is Linda Yaccarino's legacy? And what's next for X?
Today's Big Question An 'uncertain future' in the age of TikTok
-
The last words and final moments of 40 presidents
The Explainer Some are eloquent quotes worthy of the holders of the highest office in the nation, and others... aren't
-
The JFK files: the truth at last?
In The Spotlight More than 64,000 previously classified documents relating the 1963 assassination of John F. Kennedy have been released by the Trump administration
-
'Seriously, not literally': how should the world take Donald Trump?
Today's big question White House rhetoric and reality look likely to become increasingly blurred
-
Will Trump's 'madman' strategy pay off?
Today's Big Question Incoming US president likes to seem unpredictable but, this time round, world leaders could be wise to his playbook
-
Democrats vs. Republicans: which party are the billionaires backing?
The Explainer Younger tech titans join 'boys' club throwing money and support' behind President Trump, while older plutocrats quietly rebuke new administration
-
US election: where things stand with one week to go
The Explainer Harris' lead in the polls has been narrowing in Trump's favour, but her campaign remains 'cautiously optimistic'
-
Is Trump okay?
Today's Big Question Former president's mental fitness and alleged cognitive decline firmly back in the spotlight after 'bizarre' town hall event
-
The life and times of Kamala Harris
The Explainer The vice-president is narrowly leading the race to become the next US president. How did she get to where she is now?