Michael Savage

Not to be confused with Dan Savage, Adam Savage, or .

From my listening to his radio show, he's less any kind of a genuine conservative and more of an actor playing out a liberal's caricature of how conservatives are hateful, mean, ill-informed, prejudiced and immature, a stereotype he regularly fulfills.

Michael Savage, born Michael Alan Weiner, is an American former woo-peddler and  conservative talk radio host. He currently helms The Savage Nation. An ultra-radical conservative, Savage, along with such others as Rush Limbaugh and Ann Coulter, has been a contributor to the ongoing demonization of liberal people and viewpoints, helping to maintain the current level of mutual fear and loathing in American politics. He is rabidly xenophobic, misogynistic and homophobic, and hates potheads with a burning passion. He also disagrees with the Iraq War and apparently now disagrees with the Patriot Act (despite originally supporting it adamantly, even advocating imprisonment of those who filed lawsuits against its Constitutionality), which puts him greatly at odds with many of the more consistent people in the conservative movement.

Savage has been known to respond to criticism and calls for boycotts with legal threats. In at least one case, these threats have been responded to successfully, and found to be without merit. In short, he's everything you'd expect from a man who deliberately chose the name "Savage".

Contract not being renewed today, white genocide tomorrow! So… his contract wasn't renewed because the show is going a different direction, and this whiny bitch screams racism. And of course, a free marketeer feels that a commercial radio station should be forced to keep employing someone.

Pre-Savage Nation days
The son of Russian Jewish immigrants, Savage grew up in the New York City boroughs of The Bronx and Queens (explaining his accent). In his book The Savage Nation, he described his upbringing as tough:

We didn't have room for cute in my life. Things were tough every day of our lives. And we made the best of it. Frankly, that's why I'm driven the way I am. I was raised on neglect, anger and hate. I was raised the old-fashioned way.

He earned a Ph.D. in nutritional ethnomedicine from the University of California, Berkeley. Under his real name, Savage/Weiner was a herbalist before he was a conservative commentator. During his herbalist phase, he endorsed homeopathy, and immuno-therapy quackery. Savage has repeatedly falsely claimed that his doctoral degree is in epidemiology. It's an important distinction because the field of ethnomedicine is prone to crankery (like much of herbal medicine), whereas epidemiology is highly quantitative. Lying about one's expertise or degrees is a form of credentialism.

He is also rumored to be a massive closet case, having had a past history of skinny-dipping with certain homosexual 1960s poets (he was ejected from said company by virtue of being incredibly insecure and annoying). He also once wrote a weird, semi-autobiographical stream-of-consciousness novel about a closeted, psychotic herbalist (which, you have to admit, are words you seldom see applied to the same person).

As a white male Savage feels so entitled to everything that he tried and failed to apply for dean of UC Berkeley's graduate school of journalism (seriously) and after being rejected in favor of Orville Schell (someone with real journalistic credentials, and also a white man) he used that incident as the basis of his opposition towards affirmative action and even filed a frivolous discrimination lawsuit assisted by a David Horowitz-funded organization. In 1991, Savage published a whiny screed, The Death of the White Male, based on his experience instead of doing what Herman Cain would've told him: "Blame yourself!"

The Savage Nation
Savage began his radio career on San Francisco's KGO 810 in 1994 as a fill-in for liberal overnight host Ray Taliaferro. He began a daily radio show, The Savage Nation, on San Francisco's Hot Talk 560 KSFO in 1995 before going national in 1999. From 1999 to 2012 Talk Radio Network syndicated the show, before Savage left the company in September 2012 nearly two years after suing Talk Radio Network for what he called "illegal and unenforceable contract provisions" and "other strong-armed tactics." The following month, Savage signed with Cumulus Media Networks. Savage's flagship station was KSFO from 1999 to 2003 and again from 2012 on. In the years between, his flagship was KNEW 910 (2003 to 2009), KTRB 860 (2010), and KSTE 650 (2010 to 2012). KSTE is a Sacramento station whose signal reaches the San Francisco Bay Area that served as his de facto flagship in the years when Savage had no proper Bay Area affiliate.

In 2002, WND Books, the book-publishing arm of WorldNetDaily, published a book of the same name. In the first chapter, you can tell that you're in for a wild ride as Savage sews irrational, unfounded liberal-bashing with his life story. Explaining the thesis of the book, he has said: "Only a more savage nation can survive… Not a more compassionate nation… We're not going to survive by being overly compassionate to our enemies." However, Ben Fritz at Salon pointed out that Savage blatantly misrepresented the divorce rate between 1970 to 2003, confused global warming with ozone depletion (admittedly, Christopher Hitchens did this a bit too, but his biography didn't describe him as "an ardent conservationist", nor did he mock Al Gore), and took out of context a comment by Hillary Clinton about Ritalin.

Savage's style and views are so outspoken, vitriolic, and hyper-masculine that even the conservative pundit Bernard Goldberg included Savage in 110 People Who Are Screwing Up America. Media Research Center founder Brent Bozell has called Savage "crazy right" and has also said: "Michael Savage is to talk radio what Jerry Springer is to talk television." Brent Baker of the Media Research Center also said: "From my listening to his radio show, he's less any kind of a genuine conservative and more of an actor playing out a liberal's caricature of how conservatives are hateful, mean, ill-informed, prejudiced and immature, a stereotype he regularly fulfills." On his show he enjoys puffing himself up and making ad hominem attacks against those with whom he disagrees. Often, Savage shouts down liberal callers when he can't take the heat. Contrast this style with how progressive host Thom Hartmann actually tries to have conversations with conservative callers. Hartmann often debates conservative politicians and advocates on his program and welcomes callers with right-wing views. Savage, on the other hand, usually brings on only guests he agrees with, one exception being California Governor and former California Attorney General Jerry Brown, a Democrat.

"Leave the police alone"
In an incident dating back to 2001, Savage and his more-than-somewhat creepy wife Janet were nearly arrested for assaulting local filmmakers following the San Francisco police and told the camera crew: "Leave the police alone, you a--. Let them do their f-- jobs. Who the hell are you? You're nobody. You're garbage. You're street s--… You're f-- vermin." The savages Savages happened upon the cameramen recording the arrest of a homeless person for the TV show, and apparently assumed that they were "evil socialist/commie/nazi/Marxist bastards" trying to catch police brutality on camera. The duo tried blocking the camera while screaming obscenities and violent threats at the baffled cameramen, but their tirade was brought to an end after the officers stepped in and told them to take a hike. Savage proceeded to whine about this on his show later, claiming that he was a good guy whose intentions were just misunderstood.🇱🇮

Booted from MSNBC
Savage had a short lived show on MSNBC also titled The Savage Nation. In July 2003 he was fired for referring to one of his callers as a "sodomite" and saying he should "get AIDS and die.

Banned from the UK
Since 2009, Savage has been among those banned from entering the United Kingdom by the British government (mostly due to the fact that his demonization of various ethnic, sexual, and religious groups could lead to violence). After his ban took effect, Savage demanded that then-Secretary of State Hillary Clinton get the UK to rescind the ban for him.

Dumped from radio
In October 2020, Savage announced that his syndicated radio show will end in December 2020, citing "legal reasons." Since 2018, his radio show had been reduced to a single hour after Westwood One handed his programming slot to Ben Shapiro.

Political views
Savage considers himself an "independent-minded individualist" and has cited Barry Goldwater as an influence. Savage also has praised libertarian Republican Ron Paul, a longtime member of Congress and perennial presidential candidate. However, Savage often changes his opinions and previously claimed Paul was an unelectable kook.

His political philosophy centers around "borders, language, and culture", specifically these positions:
 * A Judeo-Christian worldview; Savage discussed atheism with one caller in 2007 (rather kindly) but quickly brought up Mao Zedong. He has also frequently expressed anti-Islam views.
 * Secure borders and aggressive enforcement of immigration law.
 * Cultural assimilation of immigrants including learning the English language

Savage also opposed the Obama administration's drone killing of Anwar al-Awlaki, a US citizen living in Yemen who preached Islamic extremism. Ron Paul also expressed this viewpoint.

In December 2011, Savage offered Newt Gingrich one million dollars to drop out of the 2012 Republican primaries based on his opinion that only Mitt Romney would be able to defeat President Barack Obama in the general election. Gingrich stayed in the race until May 2, 2012 after having won two states: Georgia, which was his home state, and therefore not very impressive, and South Carolina, which was initially promising because since 1980, every Republican primary candidate to win South Carolina had then gone on to win the party nomination that year.

Great moments in Michael Savage broadcasting

 * 1) "On the afternoon of Herb Caen's funeral, he played sound effects of him pissing on the [San Francisco Chronicle] columnist's grave."
 * 2) On September 11, 2001, Savage's son Russell Weiner (founder of the Rockstar energy drink) called into the show, and father and son blamed liberalism for the terrorist attacks.
 * 3) In a debate on CNN's TalkBack Live, Savage and basketball player-turned-broadcaster Charles Barkley got in heated exchanges. After being clueless about Barkley retorting to him on how 30% of federal prisoners are illegal immigrants, Barkley called Savage a "dumbass" and Savage talked over the host as the show went to commercial break: "Yeah, you're a dumb basketball player. Go dribble a ball. Go dribble a ball. You couldn't shine my shoes, buster."
 * 4) In an interview with Bill O'Reilly in September 2003, the two conservative pundits exchanged smack talk and lies about separation of church and state.
 * 5) Savage's anti-illegal immigration views and resulting attack on a Catholic church providing assistance to undocumented immigrants forced Bill Donohue, president of the Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights, to cancel a scheduled interview on the show in 2006.
 * 6) In 2007, Savage responded to the death of a transgender immigrant in San Francisco named Ruby Ordenana by attacking the San Francisco Chronicle for titling a report about the victim "Slain sex worker identified as transgender immigrant" and preferred instead to have the article titled "Degenerate junkie hooker transsexual illegal alien found dead" (the Chronicle article didn't even indicate the exact immigration status of Ordenana, further indicating Savage's prejudices).
 * 7) Savage also had little issue with Nobel-winning geneticist James Watson claiming that Africans were less intelligent.
 * 8) Savage said on kids with autism, "They don't have a father around to tell them, 'Don't act like a moron. You'll get nowhere in life. Stop acting like a putz. Straighten up. Act like a man. Don't sit there crying and screaming, you idiot.'"
 * 9) On the April 14, 2008 broadcast of his show, Michael Savage asserted that then-Senator Barack Obama is "a Marxist in his heart," adding, "He's an Afro-Leninist, and I know he's dangerous."
 * 10) An ongoing theme of Savage's commentary is his own brilliance and uniqueness. He frequently trades on his Ph.D., asking to be called "Dr. Savage" while discussing political topics. Although he once yelled at a caller who claimed to have a Ph.D., Savage had no problem boasting about his Ph.D. with another caller he disagreed with. Of course, his Ph.D. is unrelated to politics.
 * 11) Savage often compares America to Rome, with varying historical accuracy.
 * 12) In 2003, Michael Savage said that he had been paying slave reparations to the African-American community for all his life, in the form of "increased crime rates" and welfare. In short, Savage thinks that all crime is committed by African-Americans.
 * 13) In 2007, Savage blamed the downfall of America on liberal American lawyers, singled out New York University Law as the factory of liberal lawyers, and said that all liberal American lawyers should have been aborted as babies.
 * 14) On April 3, 2008 Savage said of Barack Obama, "Now we have an unknown stealth candidate who went to a madrassas in Indonesia and, in fact, was a Muslim."
 * 15) On the March 31, 2008 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, Michael Savage stated, "Cops are getting knocked off all over the country because of the rules of engagement, written primarily by the scummiest class in America, the vermin of vermin, which are the left-wing lawyers who should be put in Abu Ghraib with hoods over their head, as far as I'm concerned." He then stated, "If I had the power by executive order, I would round up every member of the ACLU and of the National Lawyers Guild, and I'd put them in a prison in Guantánamo and I'd throw the key away."
 * 16) On the December 12, 2007 edition of his show, Michael Savage referred to the Norwegian Nobel Committee, the five-member panel appointed by the Norwegian parliament to select an annual Nobel Peace Prize recipient, as "socialist perverts." He continued, "Why do I call them socialist perverts? Answer: because they are. By and large, 90 percent of the people on the Nobel Committee are into child pornography and molestation, according to the latest scientific studies." (Likely it's of no interest to him that there can be no 90% of a five-member committee.)
 * 17) On the November 8, 2007 edition, a caller told host Michael Savage that while waiting at a stoplight in Midtown Manhattan, "I'm listening to you with the window open. This mean-faced, clipped-hair, liberal type — you know, the type you always talk about. … She comes up to my window and she goes, 'You're listening to hate speech. Why are you listening to that?'" Savage replied to the caller's anecdote by saying, "Well, what does that tell you about the loving, kind lesbian who just assaulted you in your car?" He continued, "She's a — the type that stuffed ovens in [Adolf] Hitler's concentration camps. Whenever I hear anyone preaching to me about how compassionate they are, I reach for my Glock. That's all I can tell you. They can all drop dead."
 * 18) On the June 12, 2007 broadcast of his program, Michael Savage compared the "progressive movement" to the Nazi storm troopers who aided Adolf Hitler's rise to power, saying, "[T]hey are the brownshirts of today."
 * 19) On the July 16, 2007 broadcast of program, Michael Savage responded to a recent speech given by Muslim Representative Keith Ellison (D-MN) to the organization Atheists for Human Rights by saying, "[W]hat would a devout Muslim radical have in common with atheists? Answer: hatred of Christianity and hatred of Jews."
 * 20) On the July 2, 2007 edition of show, discussing the recent terror-related arrests in Britain, radio host Michael Savage said, "[W]hen I see a woman walking around with a burqa, I see a Nazi," adding, "That's what I see — how do you like that? — a hateful Nazi who would like to cut your throat and kill your children."
 * 21) On the January 18, 2007 edition of his show, while playing the song "Living on a Thin Line" by the Kinks, Michael Savage claimed that "there's no England now" because "[t]he soccer thug[s]" who defeated Hitler "[are] gone." Savage asserted: "The soccer thug has been beaten down by the lesbian/homosexual mafia in England."
 * 22) When the British Home Secretary Jacqui Smith released a list of names of people with extremist views who are banned from entering the UK, Savage responded immediately by threatening to sue Smith for defamation, obviously blissfully unaware that legal action against a decision made with the authority of the government of a country other than his own has no grounds.
 * 23) A long-time Bay Area resident, Savage went on a rant in June 2009 blaming illegal aliens for the California budget crisis. Of course the crisis couldn't have been due to a (largely Republican) minority of the legislature holding the budget hostage in order to get things they wanted, due to the ridiculous supermajority that was required to pass budgets at that time.
 * 24) On April 4, 2011, after a caller said "You're rude" to him and hung up, Savage asked, "Obama got your tongue?", mocked New Yorkers as people who "kiss your behind because you give them an eye", and complained that "liberal communist bums" destroyed the education system and everything else that they touched.
 * 25) After a shooting at an Ohio high school on Feb. 27, 2012 that left one student dead and three others injured, Savage expressed that bullied youth should take initiative to become tougher rather than become victimized.
 * 26) In October 2014, after debating with a caller about naming a tunnel after the late actor Robin Williams, Savage whined that soldiers with post-traumatic stress disorder and depression were "a bunch of losers" who "need[ed] to stand up and stop crying like a baby over everything."
 * 27) In February 2015, Savage blamed — without evidence — the measles outbreak that originated in Disneyland on illegal immigrants and condemned President Obama for causing this "crime against humanity" and "medical genocide".
 * 28) During a July, 2015 episode Savage declared that he would lead the armed rebellion against Barack Obama's totally real admittedly made up plans to provide African-Americans with slavery reparations. Savage stated, "That would be the last straw for me, if they ever try to pull that one off, I would lead a reparations rebellion in this country. No matter what my age would be, if I had the strength from God, I would lead a reparations rebellion against the government and it would be an armed rebellion." Which devolves into a rant about how Savage's entire life was ripped off by gangster Obama's welfare and affirmative action. Reminder: Savage was born in 1942.
 * 29) The Obama administration's plan to accept refugees from the Syrian Civil War was spun as an effort by Obama to raise a private army to "overthrow the people". Savage made reference to the fact that he was painting "a crazy picture" with this screed, which is about as unguarded a moment of honesty as you're liable to ever get from him.

Books
Savage has authored a number of mediocre books. Arguably his most popular is Liberalism is a Mental Disorder, which has turned into a popular catchphrase chanted by his followers. WND Books published four of Savage's books: The Savage Nation (2002), The Enemy Within (2003), Liberalism is a Mental Disorder (2005), and The Political Zoo (2006).

In The Political Zoo, Savage compared several figures to animals. More details will follow, but the highlights:

Savage's books Trickle Up Poverty (2010) and Trickle Down Tyranny (2012) are attacks on Barack Obama with relatively few facts and loads of opinions and conspiracy theories, as is Scorched Earth: Restoring the Country After Obama (2016).

Vo-Savage-bulary
Savage can be credited to introducing certain terms that conservatives use in comments sections/forums to deride the left.
 * lib: derisive term to describe liberals.
 * Red Diaper Doper Baby: as described in Urban Dictionary: "The children of leftist intellectual baby boomers, raised from birth on Marxism and a drug tolerant environment, and now in places of political and intellectual influence." In Liberalism Is a Mental Disorder, Savage described RDDB's as planning to "tax… the hard-working people who own businesses… out of existence."
 * More Snotty Nonsense by Creeps: Savage slang for MSNBC.
 * and more

Environmental interests
Savage has also advocated for animal rights. As Michael Weiner, he also wrote several books with an environmental theme.

Trivia

 * Savage's son Russell Weiner is the owner and founder of the Rockstar Energy Drink company. In 2009, Russell donated $25,000 to the campaign chest of California gubernatorial candidate Gavin Newsom, who was at the time the Democratic mayor of San Francisco. Since Michael Savage often called Gavin Newsom "Grusome Newsom", this probably explains why Michael Savage rarely (if ever) mentions his son on his radio program anymore.