NYDailyNews Reports
Glenn Beck Wednesday defended calling President Obama a "racist” and saying the President must be held accountable for his actions.
Beck told his radio audience that he would exercise his right to free speech whether or not he had a radio or television show.
"Just know, you are never going to shut me up,” Beck told his listeners.
The comments came after the combustible host ignited a firestorm Tuesday, when, during an appearance on FNC's freewheeling "Fox and Friends,” he said the President's reaction to the Henry Gates Jr. arrest situation in Cambridge, Mass., suggested a "deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture."
"Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade immediately responded, saying that most of the faces people see of the Obama administration are white, such as spokesman Robert Gibbs or chief of staff Rahm Emanuel.
"I'm not saying he doesn't like white people. I'm saying he has a problem," Beck responded. "This guy is, I believe, a racist."
Beck took to the radio airwaves Wednesday with an emotional defense of his comments. "Ever notice the one making the charge of racism is never the one on trial until it's a conservative making the charge,” Beck said.
"I am not willing to bow before the king, I will never bow before the king. In America, we do not have kings,” Beck said.
"The President of the United States is not above the law, or above criticism. I will never, ever say the emperor is wearing clothes — if he's not.”
Since the story emerged, Fox executives have made it clear that although they encourage free speech, the "racist” remark was Beck's and his alone.
"During Fox & Friends" [Tuesday] morning, Glenn Beck expressed a personal opinion which represented his own views, not those of the Fox News Channel," Bill Shine, senior vice president of programming for Fox News, said in a statement. "And as with all commentators in the cable news arena, he is given the freedom to express his opinions."
Reaction to Beck's comments on the Daily News Web site ranged from outright approval to dismissing them as coming from a conservative white commentator trying to drum up an audience.
"Glenn Beck is another example of showboating, mostly male, mostly conservative radio and TV commentators who don't speak from fact but rather from their well-considered opinion of how much what they say will rile up their fan base and make them more famous and make them more money," wrote one reader.
Beck was reacting to Obama's initial handling of the Gates case.
Read more…
}