Tammy Bruce on Laura Ingraham Radio Show | 03/24/2009 8:30 am

Laura Ingraham Guest Host Tammy Bruce Calls Michelle Obama 'Trash' (Audio)

By The Staff at wowOwow.com

Talk about a low blow.

Filling in for conservative talk-show host Laura Ingraham, Tammy Bruce blasted First Lady Michelle Obama for comments she made during a visit to a Washington D.C. classroom last week. During that visit, the first lady recalled trying to get good grades as neighborhood kids criticized her for "talking like a white girl." In light of those remarks, Bruce made fun of Obama for her use of a "weird, fake accent," much "like Hillary did when talking to black people. What?! What is that?"

"That’s what he’s [Barack] married to," Bruce said. "…You know what we’ve got? We’ve got trash in the White House. Trash is a thing that is colorblind, it can cross all eco-socionomic, kind of a, categories. You can work on Wall Street, or you can work at the Wal-Mart. Trash, are people who use other people to get things, who patronize others, who consider you bitter and clingy."

Bruce, who describes herself as an "openly gay, pro-choice, gun owning, pro-death penalty, voted for President Bush authentic feminist," hosts the nationally syndicated "Tammy Bruce Show," flagshipped at KABC Radio in Los Angeles. Last spring, Bruce took some flak for suggesting that Sen. Hillary Clinton suffers from "mythomania … part of a larger psychiatric scheme of people who make up fantastic stories to bolster their own image." Bruce also claimed that Clinton had said daughter Chelsea was "at the World Trade Center on September 11th," even though Clinton never said that.

Needless to say, Bruce’s comments about Michelle O. aren’t being received too highly across the blogosphere. "Today, I bring you Tammy Bruce, who must be at least a sophomore in the Ann Coulter School of Bigotry," says one post on Talking Points Memo. "I knew Bruce was kinda nuts, but clearly she’s aced Coulter’s introductory classes."

Click here to listen to audio of Bruce’s remarks about Michelle Obama (via Huffington Post).

314 Reader Comments (so far…) Sign In or Register to comment

Talking about taking this out of context. I listened to what Tammy was saying and I think Michelle has not come the realization that she is FLOTUS for all the people not just AA’s! As the FLOTUS she can’t try and separate comments when calling to little black kids as oppose to talking to little white ones of Mexican or whoever. She has to be the FLOTUS period! I can’t imagine Laura Bush or even Hillary saying things like this to young minds like this. I remember when Michelle was campaigning for her husband and she gave a speech that many said it was a hate speech. Michelle sounded more like a black activist than anything else! I can see why Tammy said what her did but the word "trash" I think was the wrong word. Maybe "phony" may have been the word she should have used.

By Lori F. on 03/24/2009 9:51 am

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I can’t imagine Laura Bush or even Hillary saying anyone accused them of sounding like a "white girl" either, but I know when I’m talking to someone on the telephone that I’ve never seen before, I can often detect that they are black by the way they talk, so don’t tell me that people don’t notice that.

By JJ GB on 03/25/2009 10:42 am

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I agree totally, Lori. This goes back to the paper she wrote in college that showed her bitterness and resentment of her own ethnicity and relationships with those of other ethnicities. She is like her husband’s pitbull. A pitbull whose job is to create division and resentment and to make race an issue when and where it has no place. By zeroing in on racial differences (hell, I’m Southern AND Irish and we have our own ways that make us different than most other minorities) the only thing it does is point out differences as opposed to commonalities. To constantly push differences creates alienation and suspicion. And, usually, the tone of voice that it’s presented in can also have an influence on the listeners. Especially young ones whose heads are still full of mush and impressionable. I didn’t hear the broadcast, but if I’m reading this correctly, Michelle Nobama is changing her manner of speech so that she seems more ‘ghetto’? More ‘ethnic’? More like the audience she’s speaking to? Is that speaking down to them? Or is she validating an improper manner of speech, when she should be setting an example of proper English? If this is what is being pointed out by the broadcaster, I can see why Tammy would say what she did. Perhaps the way she said it was meant to ‘shock’ people into noticing the disingenuous woman that bears the title of First Lady of the United States?

By Steve Douglass on 03/25/2009 1:47 pm

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Steve,

Interesting avatar you have chosen. Does it fit or is it a bit of humor?

By JJ GB on 03/25/2009 4:19 pm

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So here you are, Mr. Douglas, a proud Southern AND (emphasis, yours) Irish gentlemen, going on and on about something you DID NOT even listen to. Please––present the paper where Michelle "showed her bitterness and resentment of her own ethnicity." If you can do that, I’ll send you a bunch of forget-me-nots.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 03/25/2009 4:41 pm

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Good point, Phyllis. I don’t think I’ve ever seen or heard of this paper before, either.

By JJ GB on 03/25/2009 9:19 pm

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No, Michelle Obama was not ‘validating an improper manner of speech’, quite the opposite. She was encouraging children that we should all speak with a common purpose of clear communication. Now, I know you’re from Texas. Are you going to say that all the kids you went to school with spoke exactly the same, with no twang, no drawl, clear pronunciation, no slang? All politics aside and with due respect, you don’t think people mocked former President George W. Bush just for his manner of speaking and his Texas Talk. I’m from Texas, and there’s nothing more pleasant sounding than an articulate, well-spoken individual with a Texas accent. I taught English and had students who could pass a grammar test and then would speak incorrectly and write incorrectly. Did I discriminate against them by telling them if they would learn to speak and write to the standards of managers and supervisors, they increased their chances for a better job. No, that was my responsibility. Some people don’t like the Obamas. We get that. We would only ask that you get your facts right.

Peace and grace

By beth willis on 03/26/2009 3:53 pm

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Beth,

I think your comment was meant to be directed at Steve, but it ended up in my email alert and I was puzzled when I read your post, until I backed up and read Steve’s post again.

By JJ GB on 03/26/2009 4:53 pm

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Oh, yes, you’re correct. I have a bad habit of not addressing people by name. This shows me why I should. You must have been flabberghasted!

Peace and grace

By beth willis on 03/26/2009 6:34 pm

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the college paper he’s talking about is I’m assuming… Mrs. Obama’s thesis. It’s posted online. or at least it was during the election campaign. I read it and thought it was a beautiful piece. Her introduction of it was simply that as she walked around teh campus of this college that no matter who she met… a professor, a student… no matter how liberal they were that she always felt they saw her as black first and and a student second. she talked about how she was kind of caught between two worlds. she felt like black people saw her as something of a turn coat for wanting the kind of success and acceptance that they felt was reserved for white people. It was a very well done paper that showed empathy and inquistiveness not bitterness or resentment.

I occassionaly watch the Obama’s speak in ways that white people think of as "black speak". a body language accompanied by intonation and what I think is that it is their right to express their heritage in it’s language and culture. as much as it is a right of a mexican person to speak their language or a native american to speak theirs. Black people in this country have their own thing that connects them. it’s the obama’s right to own that. It isn’t a "ghetto" reflection it is a culture reflection.

By Chrome Toe on 03/26/2009 6:24 pm

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C.T.,

I haven’t seen the thesis paper, but I agree with your assessment, based on what some of my black friends over the years have told me about their feelings when placed in situations with a group of white people, at work and in social gatherings.

By JJ GB on 03/26/2009 10:04 pm

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Racist is as racist does. Making a parody of "white voices" is racist. What? You’re shocked that Blacks are racist? Obama got voted into the White House due to merit? Pure racism. He/She is not valued becuause of who they are but because of their skin color. And now she gets away with mocking the white folk. Hhhmm, wonder what Dr. Martin would think about all this…..

By Lars Svengarden on 03/29/2009 6:08 pm

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Lars,

Racial prejudice can be found in all races, but I don’t think that’s what won the Presidential Race for Obama-I think it was what he had to say, that moved people to vote for him. I also think there are people just listening and watching, hoping to find some real or imagined fault to pounce on. I think Dr. MLK would have been pleased at having the Obama family in the white house and the good they are trying to achieve.

By JJ GB on 03/29/2009 7:30 pm