Keith Olbermann Wishes for Trump Assassination, Then Tries to Backpedal with Weak Excuse That No One's Buying
Editor’s Note: Our readers responded strongly to this story when it originally ran; we’re reposting it here in case you missed it.
At any other time, it might have been called a “bloodbath.”
The perennially angry and distinctly dishonest commentator Keith Olbermann got a well-earned savaging on social media on March 18 after a cowardly retreat from an inflammatory post.
But publicly hoping for a political assassination is rarely a winning strategy.
Olbermann’s latest burst into the public eye — the former ESPN and MSNBC commentator comes and goes like a recurring rash — occurred over the weekend, when he responded to a deliberately provocative post on the social media platform X from the account of President Joe Biden’s re-election team.
The Biden-Harris HQ post carried a clip of Trump’s speech at an Ohio rally on March 16, where the former president told supporters that he had received worse treatment than presidents Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln received from the press of their days.
“Trump says he has been treated worse than Lincoln, who was assassinated,” the post said (the kind of sophomoric, supercilious snark that sounds like Jimmy Kimmel’s writers are moonlighting with the Biden campaign).
Trump says he has been treated worse than Abraham Lincoln, who was assassinated pic.twitter.com/1smn58eveV
— Biden-Harris HQ (@BidenHQ) March 16, 2024
Olbermann passed along the post to his followers with the comment, “There’s always hope.”
That post apparently has been deleted, but he shared an image of it on March 18 in response to an X post promoting a Fox News report about the controversy.
“The RT clearly shows I’m hoping Trump’s right, that he IS treated worse than Lincoln,” Olbermann wrote. “As I’ve said for 9 years: THAT HE’S CONVICTED, THEN DIES IN PRISON.”
I know nobody with an IQ greater than a halibut’s has believed @FoxNews since 1996 but even from their whores this is idiotic
The RT clearly shows I’m hoping Trump’s right, that he IS treated worse than Lincoln. As I’ve said for 9 years: THAT HE’S CONVICTED, THEN DIES IN PRISON pic.twitter.com/pBRznpLNvD
— Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) March 18, 2024
Oh, so Americans are supposed to believe that Olbermann meant prison is worse than death? That’s nonsense on stilts — and cowardly nonsense at that.
The Biden-Harris HQ post referred to “assassinated.” Olbermann’s response: “There’s always hope.” Anyone familiar with the English language — which Olbermann surely is — understands that the “hope” refers to “assassinated.”
Now, it’s almost understandable that Olbermann could be so shallowly stupid as to openly root for the murder of a man for political reasons. Even a casual glance at his X account shows he’s overwhelmed by Trump Derangement Syndrome to the point of insanity.
What’s not anywhere nearly as understandable, though, is Olbermann taking the transparently craven step of denying the obvious. Anyone who’s man enough to take a position like that in public should be man enough to stand by it.
As the responses to Olbermann’s March 18 post showed, not many were buying it:
Everyone knew what you were saying LOLberman .
— Helena Handbasket (@BumpstockBarbie) March 19, 2024
You do know that Lincoln was Assassinated , Right? I think that you meant what you said, Fella.
— SpaceGhost (@SPVC3GHZ7ST) March 18, 2024
Cute cope/lie
Be sure to put on some outdoor clothes, Secret Service visits are typically in the morning.— Bainwright (@BainwrightIsMe) March 19, 2024
First of all, your tweet was pretty clear in what it was referring to.
Second, wishing to imprison your political enemies and leave them to rot in a cell for the rest of their lives ain’t much better.
— AdamInHTownTX (Not a Neurologist) (@AdamInHTownTX) March 19, 2024
Olbermann isn’t the first D-list celebrity to hope publicly for Trump’s assassination — it’s about the only reason anyone remembers “comedian” Kathy Griffin is still breathing.
And of course, A-listers like actor Johnny Depp and singer Madonna get in on the act — hating Trump has been de rigueur for the Beautiful People since he came onto the political scene. (Funny how the Beautiful People didn’t have a problem with Trump before he went into politics.)
But pining so obviously for it as Olbermann did, then backpedaling so furiously from it as he did, puts him in a poltroonish class of his own.
Ever since that Ohio speech, Democrats, the establishment media and commentators like Olbermann have been demonstrating their dishonesty by deliberately misstating Trump’s meaning when he talked about the “bloodbath” the U.S. economy was going to face if Biden is re-elected in November.
Olbermann’s post — and the response — gives the word new meaning.
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