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Political fighting words

When Rush Limbaugh accuses President Obama of faking his bus tour, a war of words erupts on Twitter.

 

Fernando Alfonso III

Tech

Posted on Aug 31, 2011   Updated on Jun 3, 2021, 3:02 am CDT

A war of words has broken out on Twitter over a tour bus, a president, and a headline.

The online scuffle between actor Adam Baldwin (“Full Metal Jacket”) and columnist Tommy Christopher of Mediaite started over a rumor circulating around the web that President Barack Obama didn’t actually ride the bus during his recent five-city bus tour. That rumor took on a life of its own after Rush Limbaugh gave it credence on his radio program.

“Did know that Obama did not ride on the bus during the bus tours?” Limbaugh said. “Here’s the thing, apparently Obama only rode the buses for a couple of miles at a time. He spent the rest of the time flying from community to community on Air Force One.”

That was the last straw for Christopher, who reached out to Obama’s press secretary Jay Carney Tuesday to set the record straight.

“We rode the bus the entire three days,” Carey told Mediaite.

Christopher’s article, and its headline (“Exclusive: White House Mocks Rush Limbaugh’s Bus Tour Conspiracy Theory”), rubbed Baldwin the wrong way. Baldwin claims that the headline is a “brazen lie” and that it should have instead focused on the rumor and not that Limbaugh repeated it.

Christopher and Mediaite editor Colby Hall (@colbyhall) think the headline was fair.

The three men have been arguing back and forth over Twitter, splitting hairs for the last few hours.

“Your Disagreeing That You’re Wrong, Does Not Make It So! | RT @colbyhall ‘will have to agree to disagree on this one’ http://twitpic.com/6e2frn,” Baldwin tweeted.

“But I will not dis @adamsbaldwin‘s fine body of acting work, no matter how big a jerkoff he is on Twitter,” Christopher tweeted.

The war of words is still raging, and things have gotten pretty ugly. Check out some of their most recent tweets here.

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*First Published: Aug 31, 2011, 6:27 pm CDT