Fox News Radio's Sullivan predicted African-American "riots in the streets" if Obama were to lose to McCain or Clinton

Summary: Discussing Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race in America, Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan asked, "What if Barack Obama is not -- does not win the Democratic nomination, or he does win it, and loses in the presidential race against John McCain? ... [W]ill there be riots in the streets? I think the answer to that is yes and yes."

While commenting on Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race in America, during the March 18 broadcast of his Fox News Radio show, Tom Sullivan asked, "Is that his second part of his message today is, 'Hey, vote for me, and we'll get past this racist thing'?" Sullivan continued: "Let me put it to you a different way. What if Barack Obama is not -- does not win the Democratic nomination, or he does win it, and loses in the presidential race against John McCain? Is black America going to throw their hands up and say, 'Man, you know, I thought we were getting somewhere in this country, but this is just a bunch of racial bigots in this country and they still hate blacks and, I mean, if Barack Obama can't get elected, then we're never gonna have anybody that's a black that's gonna be elected president.' And will there be riots in the streets? I think the answer to that is yes and yes."

Later in the broadcast, while discussing his remarks with a caller, Sullivan stated that he was outside the courthouse on the day the O.J. Simpson verdict was announced, "And the police, LAPD, have probably, I'm not exaggerating, a hundred police on horseback, plus they had barricades up. And the police came over to us, on the other side of the street there must have been a couple of thousand African-Americans. And the police came over to us, and they said if this goes a certain way, we cannot protect you. They were ready to riot if O.J. was found guilty. That's why I go there's still a mistrust of the system and a certain of level of wanting to break things if it doesn't go their way."

As Media Matters for America noted, during the February 11 broadcast of his show, Sullivan took a call from a listener who stated that when listening to Barack Obama speak, "it harkens back to when I was younger and I used to watch those deals with Hitler, how he would excite the crowd and they'd come to their feet and scream and yell." Sullivan replied: "Oh, yeah, yeah ... I presume you're not saying he's Hitler, but I understand your point." Sullivan later played a "side-by-side comparison" of a Hitler speech and an Obama speech. Sullivan mimicked the crowd during both speeches, yelling, "Yay! Yay!" When a later caller complained that Sullivan was "denigrating" Obama with the comparison, Sullivan said he wouldn't play it again, then begged: "Can I, please, one more time? Just one more time? Then I won't do it again. ... Until the next time." Discussing the February 11 comments on his February 14 show, Sullivan said: "I wasn't trying to make a comparison. There isn't any comparison. There was none yesterday, there was none Monday, there will not be any in the future. It's nonsense."

From the March 18 edition of Fox News Radio's Tom Sullivan Show:

SULLIVAN: Second point is that Pastor [Jeremiah] Wright's error is that he thinks that we haven't moved on since Jim Crow. But, will we, if we elect Barack Obama president? Is that his second part of his message today is, "Hey, vote for me, and we'll get past this racist thing"?

Let me put it to you a different way. What if Barack Obama is not -- does not win the Democratic nomination, or he does win it, and loses in the presidential race against John McCain? Is black America going to throw their hands up and say, "Man, you know, I thought we were getting somewhere in this country, but this is just a bunch of racial bigots in this country and they still hate blacks and, I mean, if Barack Obama can't get elected, then we're never gonna have anybody that's a black that's gonna be elected president." And will there be riots in the streets? I think the answer to that is yes and yes. Regardless, people should vote, obviously, their conscience. I'm interested to see if this story keeps legs going for five more weeks until Pennsylvania.

[...]

CALLER: Well, and, can I just make a quick comment --

SULLIVAN: Sure.

CALLER: -- on your last point, about the riots, of African-Americans --

SULLIVAN: Yeah!

CALLER: Yeah, I don't think that that's the case. I think that that's, you know, sort of a bit much to say, "Oh, if he doesn't get it, we're going to throw up our hands and" - no, I don't think that's the case. I think we just want to, if he's going to lose, it'd be great if he just lost by the votes, as opposed to a smoke-filled room. But that being said, I do think that Barack still has to roll up his sleeves and get to hitting the ground and campaigning and get back on message.

SULLIVAN: I say that because, and forgive me, it was 10, 12 years ago this happened, 13 years ago: I was outside the Los Angeles County courthouse on the day the verdict was coming for O.J., and myself, and the media, we were all shuffled together on the sidewalk outside the courthouse. I was standing right next to, in fact, shoved up against Maria Shriver. So we're standing out there, and the police, LAPD, have probably, I'm not exaggerating, a hundred police on horseback, plus they had barricades up. And the police came over to us, on the other side of the street there must have been a couple of thousand African-Americans. And the police came over to us, and they said if this goes a certain way, we cannot protect you. They were ready to riot if O.J. was found guilty. That's why I go there's still a mistrust of the system and a certain of level of wanting to break things if it doesn't go their way. [MORE]