Palin Reiterates Call for Rahm Emanuel to Be Fired

By: Kevin Hechtkopf
Topics: Republicans

(FOX News Channel)

During an appearance on Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor" Tuesday night, Sarah Palin once again called for President Obama to replace White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel for calling a group of liberals "F-ing retards" last August.

"I don't think he should be part of our president's inner circle, making decisions that affect every single one of us," Palin, a Fox News contributor, told host Bill O'Reilly. "I think he's given our president some very bad advice on a whole realm of different areas."

"There needs to be a replacement there," she added.

O'Reilly asked Palin why she separated Emanuel's comments from those made by radio host Rush Limbaugh when he used the word "retard" repeatedly when talking about the controversy.

As she has done before when asked about what critics are calling a double-standard, she said that Limbaugh's comments were satire.

"He was using satire, using the 'r-word,' so he could bring to light what is was that Rahm Emanuel was calling other people," she said.

Palin was also asked about an episode of "Family Guy" on Fox television which features a mentally challenged character who says her mother is the former governor of Alaska. (You can watch a clip of it here.) Earlier today, Palin posted a note on her Facebook page which called the episode a "kick in the gut."

"This world is full of cruel, cold-hearted people who would do such a thing," Palin told O'Reilly, but did not add to the comments by her and her daughter Bristol in the Facebook note.

Later in the interview, she made an impassioned defense for her work on behalf of special needs children.

"When I gave my vice presidential nomination speech at the GOP convention, I promised the special needs community that they would have a friend and an advocate in the White House," she said. "And just because John McCain and I did not win, that did not take away my passion for helping those who want to reach out and ask me to do what I can to allow this country, this world to be more welcoming place for all innocent people, all special needs children. I am going to keep pursuing that in our country until we are a more tolerant, compassionate, welcoming place for the innocents."

Kevin Hechtkopf
Kevin Hechtkopf is CBSNews.com's politics editor.
Follow on Twitter »

50 Comments Have Your Say
Email Story Send to a Friend
Share This Tell Your Friends
Tweet This Tweet This
More Share It

Add a Comment

See all 50 Comments


by tahoegeminii February 26, 2010 8:02 PM EST: Well Sarah-I don't think a fame stalking quitter that thinks abstinence is a good form of birth control for a 16 year old with a steady boyfriend is smart enough to find a way out of paper bag -are you to illiterate to know they are having sex-that's what happens when you let your teenage daughter have a steady boyfriend-they will have sex-if you cannot even keep tabs on that Sarah i do not care what you have to say on anything -you are a quitting dumas-the least you could have done is get your daughter on birth control instead of sticking your head in the sand and covering your ears going "la la la la"-that is exactly how you will handle your political decisions as well-you suck-you are a quitter and have clearly shown you will go wherever the money is -like right now it is sooo obvious you are taking payouts from medical insurance corps-you are their "grass roots" ace in the whole to instill fear and panic so the idiot middle class will vote as they are told to by corporations that bleed them dry-we can't have the peasants getting affordable quality health care now can we-that would mean billions in revenue for CEO's out the window and is they actually got good health care they would live longer and really the rich only care if the slaves can put in 20-30 years of underpaid labor-they don't give a **** if they are healthy while doing it or die before we can retire-not the health insurance corps problem-their only problem is to figure out how to keep us brainwashed and doing their bidding and that is where the pig in lipstick comes in-and man is she a PIG; Reply to this comment


by avengingannie February 19, 2010 8:27 AM EST: How is firing Rahm going to acreate awareness or advance issues from the disability community?

What will she gain from lynching the Chief of Staff while letting Rush Limbaugh off the hook over the "R" word?

She gained the role of victim once the Colberts, Silvermans, Mahers, and Family Guy went after her for her little oversight called "satire."

Satire is something no kid or parent, regardless of the ridicule, can go up against.

Everyone knows there is no single template under which all disability issues fit for the entire population of people with disabilities. So why did she picked the very one issue with Rahm that makes people go crazy? The one issue we have absolutely no control over?

Advocacy is the only thing we have control over!

Advocacy is not about winning an argument about exclusivity rights to the "R" word. Advocacy begins with a personal acknowledgement that all children are valued regardless of their ability or disability.

While I share Ms. Palin's offense to the "R" word, I do not share her view that bringing children with disability labels into world is martyrdom.

Neither should we be calling them as "innocents" or "less fortunate" because it promotes inequity and advocacy is about making the playing field level for all our children.; Reply to this comment


by freebird1128 February 18, 2010 3:11 PM EST: I can not, for the life of me, figure out why or how there could be people who defend this idiot. She has a problem with one person who uses the word retard but excuses Rush because it was satire? Then flips out when Family Guy does it.....satire people. I deplore censorship and she she is doing just that. She's a retard. ;-); Reply to this comment


by from_the_north February 18, 2010 8:03 AM EST: Why doesn't she demand Limbaugh be fired? Her double standards are obvious here.; Reply to this comment


by mom3dhs February 17, 2010 1:28 PM EST: I really do feel for Ms. Palin. Apparently she's had a few ugly comments directed at her after taking ownership over who can use the "R" word and who cannot use this word.

Ms. Palin, if we want to teach tolerance and compassion, we must first put down the mud and stones. If we want people to stop using our children as targets or posters or objects to be mimicked and ridiculed, we must first start by not referring to them as "less fortunate" and "innocents" because advocacy is about making the playing field level not martyrdom.

Advocacy is about making things equitable for our children through action like legislation, intervention, and education.

Look deeper into the issues instead of getting distracted by what is floating on the top. Disability issues may look like one giant template under which we can all fit but it's not. For example, the next time you pose with one of your GOP buddies, ask them where they sit in regard to housing issues, healthcare, and job training for our family and friends who exist on the margins in society.

Show alittle tolerance and compassion to Rahm, too. He is not the enemy here. The enemy is ignorance. The enemy is the political grandstanding that always gets in the way of important issues.; Reply to this comment


by jimbom121 February 17, 2010 1:13 PM EST: Still waiting for her to demand Rush's firing????; Reply to this comment


by U_S_Drug_Addict February 17, 2010 12:04 PM EST: What Failin Palin is asking the president t do is just plain Retarded; Reply to this comment

by Empire-George- February 17, 2010 10:59 AM EST

Why is Palin so upset anyway, Rahm Emanuel was just telling the truth that the liberal democrats were retarded.....they are....so what

Frankly, I don't like calling for people to get fired or resign, because of a comment, or free speech permitted by the 1st Amendment to the Constitution....and I don't like it when Liberals do the same against someone like a conservative, who is using their free speech either.

Reply to this comment


by freebird1128 February 18, 2010 3:15 PM EST: What a great round-about way to defend Palin. Good on you.


by stanisloski101 February 17, 2010 10:48 AM EST: The episode actually doesn't make fun of the girl with Down Syndrome. Rather, she turns out to be empowered to the point of being a b---h. Family Guy should be congratulated for creating the most self-asserted diasbled character on TV. The joke was making fun of Palin. Hey hypocrisy in giving Limbaugh a pass because "it was a satire" flies right in the face of this show. What was Palin's response to this second bout with hypocrisy? She repeated herself. John McCain should be tried and convicted in Manhattan for what he did to America.; Reply to this comment


by endurorob_5 February 17, 2010 10:19 AM EST: republicanblack February 17, 2010 7:11 AM EST
Am I the only person that notices sweetheart Sarah Palin is just like Obama. She excites her base and sets the grassroots on fire. If it wasn't for Sarah half the people screaming their heads off at tea party rallies, would not be there. So now like any politician she is positioning herself to make out big on this, check this article out

I think you are a bit confused. The tea partiers did not attahc themselves to palin, she attahced herself to them. If she has further political aspirations it was likely a smart move.; Reply to this comment