Right-wing radio host Rush Limbaugh drew more controversy this week after likening President Barack Obama to an Oreo cookie on his Wednesday program. According to the Los Angeles Times, Limbaugh’s supposed “satire” played off like a racial slur—“Oreo” means a black person who “acts white” or is white on the inside.
“Kraft foods is going to launch a new Oreo…It’s a Triple Double Oreo,” he said. “It’s actually a biracial cookie. You’ve got three of the chocolate wafers, and then you’ve got the white vanilla cream, the cream, and then there’s a chocolate cream…You wait, it isn’t going to be long before it’s called the Or-Bam-eo, or something like this.”
The comment came while Limbaugh was discussing an article from the Chicago Tribune, the Hollywood Reporter said. He later went on to mention First Lady Michelle Obama’s campaign to promote healthy eating.
“The food industry responds with, ‘Oh yeah? Take this.’ And Kraft comes up with the Or-Bam-eo, the triple double dipper,” Limbaugh said.
The radio host went on to call Obama’s bus tour “The White Like Me Tour.”
As the Hollywood Reporter notes, Limbaugh has drawn criticism for outspoken and sometimes racist comments in the past. He was criticized for mocking the Japanese for recycling after March’s tragic earthquake, and for a billboard for his radio show that featured bulletholes and the phrase “straight shooter,” which was placed down the street from where Rep. Gabrielle Giffords was shot in Tucson.
