Radio Host Michael Savage Banned From Britain
Posted: Thursday, July 30th, 2009 at 2:15 pm
SAN FRANSISCO, California—Michael Savage, a San Fransisco-based conservative talk show host, has been banned in Britain.
Savage is notorious for his sharp-tongued right-wing commentary, which has made headlines and landed him in hot water, throughout his career.
The Chronicle had an exclusive interview with Savage where he relayed that he was shocked to hear of the news that he was included in the British government’s groundbreaking new list of nearly two dozen people from across the world who are banned from entering the nation for allegedly fostering hatred or extremism.
“When I woke up and saw this this morning … my first thought was, damn, there goes the summer trip where I planned to have my dental work done,” the “Savage Nation” host joked. “My second thought was, darn … there goes my visit to the restaurants of England for their great cuisine.”
He does recognize, however, that this represents a serious issue and threat to the freedom of speech.
“Today it’s me. Tomorrow it’s someone else,” he said. “My first reaction is, this can’t be happening … that the land of the Magna Carta has now become the land of the mini-Carta.”
Michael Savage is on the list of 22 names which include Muslim extremists, jailed Russian gang members, Stephone “Don” Black, who founded a white supremacist Web site in Florida, an anti-gay church leader and an Israeli settler.
“I think it’s important that people understand the sorts of values and sorts of standards that we have here, the fact that it’s a privilege to come and the sort of things that mean you won’t be welcome in this country,” said Home Secretary Jacqui Smith in an interview with Britain’s GMTV.
Savage reaches an estimated audiences of 8 to 10 million listeners on more than 350 stations nationwide, and has made news for calling the Quran, the Muslim holy book, a “book of hate.”
“This lunatic … is linking me up with Nazi skinheads who are killing people in Russia, she’s putting me in a league with Hamas murderers who kill Jews on buses,” he said. “I have never advocated violence … I’ve been on the air 15 years. My views may be inflammatory, but they’re not violent in any way.”
Savage is now preparing to take legal action but is unsure of who the defendant would be. “Is it the government’s investigation? Who did this? If she didn’t draw it up, who did?” he said.
Savage’s focus is now on who will be next. “All I’ve done is express strong political opinions that happen to be quite patriotic to a large generation of Americans. They’re not really out of the mainstream with most of America. Yeah, they’re out of the mainstream with San Francisco and Los Angeles,” he said.
But now “who else will be banned — all the people who listen to my show, 10 million people? Should they also not go to Britain?”
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