Anti-immigrant Radio Host Mocks Senator Kennedy’s Cancer Diagnosis

Oregon AM Radio Station 750AM KXL airs Michael Savage’s cruel diatribe of Senator Kennedy’s brain cancer diagnosis

Portland, OR- Yesterday, as Oregonians were handing in their ballots and waiting for the Oregon Primary coverage on KXL 750AM, they heard the cruel opening of anti-immigrant talker Michael Savage on Senator Kennedy’s cancer diagnosis. The audio can be heard here.

Michael Savage, host of the syndicated conservative radio show The Savage Nation, is well known for his hateful rants against immigrants and Muslims. During the opener of his Tuesday show, he cruelly parodied Kennedy’s condition and continued his disturbing assault well into his show. Of the most disturbing, was his continuous airing of a song by punk rock group, The Dead Kennedys. Alluding to the reason, Savage said “to cut this out in some respect for Ted Kennedy, here's a tune coming at you from the Dead Kennedys”. He added, “You know I'm playing the Dead Kennedys not to mock Ted Kennedy. It's just appropriate, that's all.”

Savage then turned his cruel assault on those saddened by Senator Kennedy’s diagnosis which included members of both the Republican and Democratic Parties. As West Virginia Senator Robert Byrd paid an emotional tribute to Senator Kennedy, Savage mocked him, saying “I'm asking you, would a sane nation permit a senile senator to hold his seat?” He went on to say, “You gently send in orderlies in white coats, and they gently remove the old man, and they put him in a chair -- strap him in -- in the Senate retirement home, and wheel him over next to a curtain facing a nice outdoor window, and three times a day they feed it.”

Michael Savage has been assailing Senator Edward Kennedy for years over everything from the Senator’s support for immigrant rights, his co-sponsorship of the bipartisan Comprehensive Immigration Reform bill to his speaking out against the unpopular war in Iraq, among other things. Yesterday, Savage abandoned all common decency and respect for those suffering from cancer and their families.

Oregonians have to question why a radio station like KXL, or any radio station where families are in ear shot would have Michael Savage as one of it’s hosts. Brain cancer is a very serious and deadly disease which is diagnosed in about 9,000 Americans a year, half of which die within a year.

Yesterday evening, Media Matters for America issued a full report on Michael Savage’s cruel diatribe. Their full report can be read by linking here.

Posted in: Anti-immigrant Radio,Comprehensive Immigration Reform,Michael Savage,Senator Kennedy