Michael Savage now says he was joking about autism

by: Salaam

Fri May 08, 2009 at 00:02:58 AM EDT

On the July 16, 2008, broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Savage claimed that autism is "[a] fraud, a racket." Savage went on to say, "I'll tell you what autism is. In 99 percent of the cases, it's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out. That's what autism is. What do you mean they scream and they're silent? They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, idiot.' " Savage had previously described autism as a "phony disease."

Story here.

Islamaphobic radio show hemorrhages ad money, dropped from stations nationwide after autism rant

by: Salaam

Sun Jul 27, 2008 at 23:17:13 PM EDT

Advertisers and radio stations across the country are disassociating themselves from Savage's nationally syndicated radio show "Savage Nation with Michael Savage" after his July 16 claim that in a majority of autism cases, "It's a brat who hasn't been told to cut the act out."

Radio Shack, Aflac and Sears say that their advertisements should not have appeared during Savage's show and will not for the foreseeable future.

"We were not specific sponsors of his," said Laura Crane, a spokeswoman for Aflac. "We've told our ad buying agency that under no circumstances should they buy ad time on his show."

Anheuser-Busch released a statement on Friday saying that it has never advertised on Savage's program.

Radio stations like WINA in Virginia and WHK in Cleveland are following suit, dropping "The Savage Nation" from their lineups.

The SuperTalk network of Mississippi announced that it would discontinue airing Savage on seven stations. "We're a conservative network," said Steve Davenport, chief executive of Telesouth Communications, SuperTalk's parent company. "I just didn't see why a person with so much hatred had a place in our network."

Davenport's company received more than 1,500 e-mails expressing outrage from Mississippi listeners over Savage's comments.

During a press conference in Manhattan on Friday, John Gillmore and Evelyn Ain of Autism United and State Sen. Craig Johnson (D?Port Washington) applauded the "necessary" steps taken by the advertisers and radio stations.

"The companies who have spoken with their advertising dollars are exercising their free speech," Johnson said. "What Michael Savage has done and has said borders, simply, on hate speech."

Story here.

Between the $1 million-plus in ad revenue that Savage has lost from the boycott CAIR launched for his hate speech against muslims, and the blowback from the autism debacle, Savage's attorney will have to refile the frivolous CAIR lawsuit pro bono.