Barack Obama makes a one-fingered gesture while speaking of Hillary Clinton

This is one of those political moments that really needs few words.

We'll no doubt hear much more about this incident in coming days.

Right now, we'll just leave this video for Ticket readers to view and judge for themselves. It's Sen. Barack Obama, according to the caption on YouTube posted just minutes ago, speaking to a friendly crowd in Raleigh, N.C., today.

He's talking critically about his opponent, Sen. Hillary Clinton of New York, and the kind of distasteful gotcha politics that occur in Washington. And he says, "That's all right. Sen. Clinton looked in her element."

Watch the video right then. The presidential candidate raises his right hand to seemingly scratch his cheek.

He doesn't use his whole hand though. Just one finger. Briefly. A couple of strokes.

He pauses. He smiles slyly as the crowd begins to mumble and then he tries, somewhat distracted, to continue his remarks, smiling as the buzz spreads through the crowd.

He'll no doubt deny it later, but that mischievous smile seems to confirm plenty. And the crowd sure sees something.

(UPDATE: A new item has been posted on the Obama campaign's reaction to this issue, calling it "absurd and untrue.")

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Comments

[Nick]

I regularly scratch and do other things with my middle finger all the time. It's a centimeter longer, so it saves me that centimeter of extra movement i have to do.

[ian]

hard hitting journalism at it's finest. i love how that's a video of a youtube video. way to be technologically savvy.

[SamualB]

He just lost my vote.

[linda]

man, it must be nice to live in the cocooned world of the national political press corps, where the overriding concerns of your days is this crap.

[Joe]

Andrew,

Take a look at another angle (20:56) and then correct your post prominently. http://www.ustream.tv/recorded/355941

Meanwhile, I'll be emailing/calling your editors at your pathetic lack of professionalism.

[Ed]

It is amazing how many people jump to defend Obama again and again, no matter what he does. He is the last person that should be President, and is truly the most dangerous man in the race to date. Yet so many of the sheep are willing to overlook every indication the tells you maybe you should consider someone else, that he isn't man enough for the job, but who cares, right? It's just the leader of the free world, so what if he screws up the entire country. It is a sad time in America, but I guess you deserve what you get.

[Laurence Topliffe]

What is Barack supposed to do to scratch a small place on his cheek, use three, four or five fingers? Maybe his thumb? Gimme a break.

[Rufus T Firefly]

Hazel Diane Rasheeda Moore,

Machiavellian? Really? I'm pretty sure Machiavelli did not recommend risking your rise to power with such a stupid gesture. Obama is much smarter than that.

But go ahead and read all you can into off the cuff comments that reference something he's talked about in depth previously, or pretend to read his mind to say what he meant by a gesture with cameras rolling...

Face it. The 44th president of the United States will be Barack Hussein Obama. And that just drives haters like you CRAZY, doesn't it?

I'm taking the day off on January 20, 2009, just so I can sit back and enjoy the karmic retribution for all the hateful Bush lovers and Hillary-philes.

I WAS a fan of Hillary before she lost Iowa, causing she & Bill to lose their damn minds.

[Joshua]

Direct on side view of this rally:
http://www.ustream.tv/swf/3/viewer.111.swf?&loc=/&vid=355941
Jump to 20:50, see the completely clear two-fingered cheek scratch and then please update your story.

[Katablog]

The continuing smirk as the crowd "gets it" confirms that it was not an accidental gesture. Pretty childish and stupid on his part.

[Maxwell Edison]

One thing is unmistakable: I'm currently giving the finger to the Los Angeles Times. This tripe is exactly why the nation is in such a mess. Let's ignore Al Gore's vast experience and competence, becaue Dubya's a guy you'd like to hang out with! He's just a regular guy! And John Kerry - he didn't really get hurt in Vietnam. It was all planned so he could eventually use that to put himself in the White House.

In a country where 'intellectual' is an insult, we deserve the idiots we elect. We have a chance to make a statement, that we're not going to buy into the normal 'gotcha' garbage the media have been foisting upon us.

LA Times = Shameful.

[JoeSky]

I’m making this comment from a point of view of someone who is living in a foreign country.

Granted that Obama’s finger was unintentional, it will create a nuke bomb if he did this while making speech “in the same context” referring to a foreign leader.

Imagine he’s making speech referring to Sarkozy the French Prime Minister, Merkel the German Chancellor, or Hu Jintao the Chinese President, and scratch his face with his middle finger. There will be an uproar in those countries, and they won’t take excuse from Obama supporters swamping the blog.

His conduct is unpresidential. He is not ready for prime time. DNC backs a wrong horse. And it turns out to be a huge embarrassment.

[PaulS]

Isn't April Fools Day past? Because I assume that this is just a joke, or meant to be tongue in cheek. Would any responsible, competent journalist really stoop to this?

I am not an Obama fan (in fact, I don't like any of the candidates), but it's not even the summer yet and I have already grown tired of the media dredging through the mud for whatever waste they can retrieve.

Can we talk issues? Who's going to lead a government that does what government is really supposed to do? Who's going to make sure government gets out of my life? I haven't heard the answer yet.

[YourMadre]

I think this is the dumbest thing on the internet today and the person who wrote this article should be hit in the head with a flying burrito or large size beverage. i guess it just proves that morons control the dialog in the country. i think there is a job opening at ABC you would be perfect for.

[Howard]

This is incredibly ridiculous. He was scratching his face, period. Have you ever seen someone give the finger to the sky to insult someone who's not even there? It's beyond ludicrous. And the crowd was reacting to his statement that Hillary Clinton is in her element with dirty politics.

[John]

No.

[Jose]

This is so not news worthy and sad. Even worse are the comments posted here by those who would try and make it seem so. Those in the Hillary camp and those in the Obama camp should start focusing their energy on that other candidate from that other party. This country reallly needs to wake up already.

[Michael Johnson]

Is this what constitutes as news these days? Pathetic. Have all other problems been solved in LA?

[David Gotrik]

This is the biggest news since 9/11

[anonymous]

Oh good lord.... Are you insane?

[ThsGuyRightHere]

Seriously, grow up. Do you honestly think a U.S. Senator would would deliberately do the old "I'm scratching my cheek but I'm really giving you the finger technique"? For that matter, do you know anyone in their 40's who would do that? Of course the crowd got a kick out of it, that's the beauty of having young people among your following. If you're going to criticize a candidate why don't you stick to the platform, something that really matters. I know you won't though, I'm sure the next article we'll read will be about Hillary wantonly engaging in "beer before liquor, never sicker", or about how Obama was witnessed at a fundraising event "totally bogarting the nachos".

[Rob Martinez]

Please tell me this is a joke.
Mr. Malcolm, please step back from the abyss and recognize this for what it is... a childish attempt to turn (literally) nothing into something.

How sad.
Is this the type of journalism you had in mind when you were working on your degree?

[ChrisM]

Forgive me for scrolling past a hundred or so comments if someone has already said this, but you should be fired.

[Ray C.]

If this is the worst that the Liberal Media® can dredge up about "B. Hussein Osama", then he can't be that bad.

(Dude, seriously, can't you come up with something more substantial than "zOMG B. Hussein Osama scratched his cheek with his MIDDLE FINGER!!1!!11!!"?)

[matt kaune]

I think you're a flipping idiot - that's what I think. But hey, keep trying to invent non-issues in a climate where the BIG issues of Bush's Killing Machine in Iraq and Bush's Economic Train Wreck are front and center - on EVERYONE's mind.

[Nunya]

Are you people thirteen or something? This is the most retarded thing I've EVER read from a (normally) decent newspaper.

[Truth Seeker]

I checked both videos of two speeches he gave and both times Obama made the same "middle finger" gesture right after saying Hillary's name.

What an ass!! Who does this? This is the man who wants to represent the US on the world stage?

This petulant, immature child...

Go Hillary....please everyone contribute
www.hillaryclinton.com
We need her more than ever.

[yougharry]

Andrew, you symbolize exactly why I stopped taking the LA Times. But you are only the the tip of the iceberg.
And your boss, Sam Zell, has the the gall to say that Hillary and Obama are causing the recession because they are talking about the economy.
No the reason the economy is in the toilet is because of the tax cut Zell got and the Iraq war, which he supported.
PATHETIC CRAP!!!

[Chris]

This is the worst kind of 'journalism.' Thanks for giving me an excuse to cancel my subscription.

[Truth Teller]

To those who care....it was at two different speeches.

Just check the people behind him.

Obama supporters....do you really want a President who behaves this crudely.

A person who can't take a punch and fights back in this immature, petulant way?

There is no way he will win in November...he has just given away two much ammunition.

[Eric]

This is insanity. In a clip where Obama is talking about "gotcha" politics, you are a case in point. Wake up and do some real journalism.

Wow, you found a video clip from a rally where Obama is scratching his face! How investigative!

[Hanna]

Obama can't contain his arrogant anger and clearly gives Hillary and her supporters the finger. If he is the nominee instead of Hillary come Nov, I will be giving him the royal fingre come November when mine votes McCain instead.
Hillary supporters - USE YOUR FINGER IN NOV. DON'T VOTE OBAMA

[Beo]

Nobody in the crowd had any doubt that he intended to flip her off. Listen to the reaction. His poo-eating grin afterwards did nothing to bolster his plausible deniability, either. Don't worry, Obamaniacs. This won't get nearly as much traction as Wrightgate, Arugulagate, Crackergate, or Debategate. Pay no attention to the man behind the curtain.

[Rebecca]

What do I think? WHAT DO I THINK? I think you, Andrew Malcolm, are insane. i think you are an embarrassment. I think you are a disgrace. I think it is depressing that you have been entrusted with the very minor responsibility of a lame blog on the LA Times website that I can only hope is not particularly widely-read.

Most of all, I think I am despondent about the ability of our country's media to keep us educated and informed about the issues that should matter to us when we pick the next president.

[obamessiah]

It's pretty clear that he's giving her the finger, and it's pretty clear that he's doing it with sufficient subtlety to deny it with self-righteous outrage afterwards.

That's what you can get away with when you're the messiah.

[amber]

What pure horse crap. He was scratching his face. Looking for any lame excuse huh?

[Sean Killeen]

Interesting take on it. I agree it looks suspect but it appears moreso as if he did it accidentally and then realized the implications. At that point, rather than derail his entire speech, the best option seemed to laugh at the fact that it happened ironically and move on. It's not a wise move for a politician to do that at all, and I don't think he would see that as helping his cause any, so i doubt it would've been done intentionally.

Still, definitely food for thought.

[The Steadmanns]

Looks we've gone through the looking glass here. An anonymous poster (who may have meant this video as a joke) on YouTube turns a harmless gesture into a scandal, and you run with it?

Andrew Malcom, you've reached a new low journalism standard even for a blogger. In fact, this makes a National Enquirer reporter look good.

Really want to know what we think? If you were working in Germany during the Reich, you could have been an ace reporter for DER STURMER or the VOLKISCHER BEOBACHTER. You could've have written such asinine articles as this one and perhaps won prestigious journalism awards. That would have been very good for you.

[Martin]

Disgusting and calculated. The sooner he's out of the race, the better. Totally unfit for the Presidency.

This guy is starting to make George W. Bush look classy.

[Osama Bama Yo Mama]

Barackula and Michelle Frankenbama have no place in the White House. Have you seen Michelle Frankenbama address a crowd. She pumps her shoulders--as if she's talking to the Crips or Bloods. Totally Ghetto.

[Jan Obermier]

This type of journalism is despicable and I condemn it completely. This newspaper should be ashamed of its journalists who are bringing the whole country to the gutter of tabloid journalism. Shame on you.

[katherine]

When was the last time you scratched your face with one middle finger??? And buzz in an audience after making a gesture means one has made a gesture. Obama does not deserve to be president of anything much less the U.S.

[Christopher Fritz]

You can't possibly be serious. It's not even the only finger raised. Great job media. You've created yet another unnecessary distraction.

[Sarina J.]

If Hillary or McCain did the same thing it would be front page news, CNN would spend a week on it and every Obamaniac that posted here would be ranting about how low-life, tasteless, no class and un-Presidential this giving the finger is.

[casa]

Obama is an arse and a faker. he pretends to be above stuff but he is the same ol politician only immature.

Mr. Whiner who can't handle a tough lady and a few hard questions from the press which he should have been prepared for.

[Bessie]

Everyone gets soo offended, I give people the finger all the time, it's how the deaf communicate, it's called sign language. Obama signs, it's just another one of the many ways he can communicate to the American people he is soo talented.

[Kitty]

Andrew,

Put down the crack pipe. Seriously.

[Steve]

I woke still not believing that Malcolm wasnlt joking.

My blog responds.

http://mediaandmayhem.com/2008/04/17/andrew-malcolm-of-the-la-times-may-need-to-do-some-deep-breathing-exercises/

[Van Scheurich]

It really doesn't matter anymore since the Democratic Party has lost the next general election if this is the best they can muster. Hillary.......useless con artist, while the other one, Obama......fake, closet racist for the past 20 years and friends of the "Weathermen"....now that's just what we need in the White House", another "Amadeninutjob" from Iran.

[Rabscuttle]

Are you kidding me? You guys are unbelievable.

Issues? Can we talk about real issues, you know, that the PRESIDENT might have to deal with? No? Bueller?

You can't stop Obama...you're just making fools of yourselves.