Limbaugh falsely suggested Hamas supports Obama

On the June 24 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, Rush Limbaugh stated: "I will guaran-damn-tee you there will not be a terrorist attack before the election. And you know why there won't be one? Because they want Obama elected." He later asserted, "Hamas has endorsed Obama. Hamas has endorsed Obama. Do you think they're going to do anything to upset the apple cart of Obama's election? Why do you think they've endorsed Obama? Because they want a very strong ally for Israel in the White House?" In fact, Obama stated his support for Israel in a speech to the American-Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) on June 4, in which he said: "Those who threaten Israel threaten us. ... And I will bring to the White House an unshakeable commitment to Israel's security." Moreover, contrary to Limbaugh's assertion that Hamas endorsed Obama, while Ahmed Yousef, chief political adviser to the prime minister of Hamas, reportedly said in an April 13 interview with conservative radio host John Batchelor and WorldNetDaily.com Jerusalem bureau chief Aaron Klein that he liked Obama and hoped he would win the election, a Hamas official responded to Obama's remarks to AIPAC by saying, according to Reuters, "Hamas does not differentiate between the two presidential candidates, Obama and McCain, because their policies regarding the Arab-Israel conflict are the same and are hostile to us, therefore we do have no preference and are not wishing for either of them to win."

Limbaugh also asserted that "every time I hear [Iranian President Mahmoud] Ahmadinejad speak, every time I hear a tape from [Al Qaeda leader] Ayman al Zawahiri or a so-called dispatch from [Osama] bin Laden, whenever I hear from any of these Middle East Al Qaeda terrorists, I think I'm hearing Democrat [sic] Party talking points." As Media Matters for America has documented, Limbaugh has previously made similar assertions, as well as claiming on the April 15 edition of his program that "Islamofascists are actively campaigning for the election of Democrats."

From the June 24 edition of Premiere Radio Networks' The Rush Limbaugh Show:

LIMBAUGH: Somebody made a prediction. I can't remember who it is, but they're right, whoever it was. There will not be -- oh, no, no, no, take it back. It was John Bolton. John Bolton said there will not be an attack on Iran by Israel before the election, but there will be between the election and the inauguration. That's what John Bolton said. Said it in an interview with the UK Telegraph. And he started, he said, I just -- I'm beside myself that the Americans, the United States have lost the will to take care of this. They seem happy to farm it out to the Israelis. They Israelis will do it, but they won't do it in a way that will affect our election. But they will do it to protect themselves after the election. So, he's on record with that prediction.

Let me make one of my own. Precisely because every time I hear Ahmadinejad speak, every time I hear a tape from Ayman al Zawahiri or a so-called dispatch from bin Laden, whenever I hear from any of these Middle East Al Qaeda terrorists, I think I'm hearing Democrat Party talking points. I will guaran-damn-tee you there will not be a terrorist attack before the election. And you know why there won't be one? Because they want Obama elected. They wanted John Kerry elected. They wanted the Democrats elected in the 2006 midterms.

Am I politically incorrect for saying this? We all know it to be true. Just listen -- they've said as much. We hear stories -- we read stories in the drive-by media about how some of these despots like [President Hugo] Chavez in Venezuela, others, are looking forward to the election of Obama. Hamas has endorsed Obama. Hamas has endorsed Obama. Do you think they're going to do anything to upset the apple cart of Obama's election? Why do you think they've endorsed Obama? Because they want a very strong ally for Israel in the White House? Do [laughter] --

And I saw the stupidest poll. What was the poll? I don't even know what the poll was -- I got a glance of it on television. It's the kind of poll I don't believe; it's supposed to dispirit Republicans. Something like 48 to 43, Americans prefer Obama to McCain on foreign policy. Now, that's just absurd. That is just -- it's just -- it might have been a Newsweek poll because I think it was PMSNBC. You know, they're in bed with Newsweek. They're not only in bed, they're under the covers with Newsweek.