Obama: Cover Insults America's Muslims

By Glen Johnson

Associated Press Writer

July 16, 2008

CBNNews.com - CHICAGO - Presidential hopeful Barack Obama said Tuesday that the New Yorker magazine's satirical cover, depicting him and his wife as flag-burning, fist-bumping radical Islamists, was an insult to Muslim Americans.

"You know, there are wonderful Muslim Americans all across the country who are doing wonderful things," the presidential candidate told CNN's Larry King.

"And for this [magazine cover] to be used as sort of an insult or to raise suspicions about me, I think is unfortunate. And it's not what America's all about."

Obama blamed himself for not forcefully challenging some of the stories that have been circulated about him, including that he is Muslim. Obama says he is a Christian.

The son of a Kenyan father, Obama lived in the predominantly Muslim nation of Indonesia as a child.

The Democrat's presidential candidate dealt with similar questions in February after a photo surfaced of him wearing traditional African Muslim clothing during a visit to Kenya in 2006.

The cover of the New Yorker, which hit newsstands Monday, depicts Obama in Muslim garb and his wife, Michelle, in camouflage and combat boots, with an assault rifle slung over one shoulder. A portrait of Osama bin Laden hangs above the fireplace mantel.

New Yorker Editor David Remnick told the Huffington Post Web site the cover was chosen because it had something to say.

When first asked about it on Sunday, Obama declined to comment, but his spokesman, Bill Burton, said it was "tasteless and offensive."

Obama said he's developed "a pretty thick skin" running for president and has "seen and heard worse."

"I do think that, you know, in attempting to satirize something, they probably fueled some misconceptions about me instead," he said.

"But, you know, that was their editorial judgment. And as I said, ultimately, it's a cartoon, it's not where the American people are spending a lot of their time thinking about."

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