Posted on by Jason Easley

Debunking the Obama is Closing GOP Car Dealerships Conspiracy Theory

Today, Fox News joined the parade of right wing media who claim that Barack Obama is targeting Republican car dealerships for closure, so I think that it is time that we look at some facts to debunk this right wing myth.

It all started in the Examiner with, “Evidence appears to be mounting that the Obama administration has systematically targeted for closing Chrysler dealers who contributed to Repubicans. What started earlier this week as mainly a rumbling on the Right side of the Blogosphere has gathered some steam today with revelations that among the dealers being shut down are a GOP congressman and closing of competitors to a dealership chain partly owned by former Clinton White House chief of staff Mack McLarty.”

Wait a minute, evidence appears to be mounting? This is different from saying that evidence is mounting. Here is what they call evidence, “The basic issue raised here is this: How do we account for the fact millions of dollars were contributed to GOP candidates by Chrysler who are being closed by the government, but only one has been found so far that is being closed that contributed to the Obama campaign in 2008?”

This led Major Garrett of Fox News to report, “There is some concern in the blogosphere that of the of the Chrysler dealerships being closed, a disproportionate number appear to be in which the operators contributed to Republicans. And hardly which contributed to democrats have been closed down. I’m not saying the White House knows anything about this but would you be concerned about any taint of politics in any of the decisions.”

Once again, there is no evidence to back up his claim. White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs addressed the latest GOP conspiracy theory today, by saying that dealership closures are Chrysler’s decision. Here is the video:

Nate Silver over at FiveThirtyEight.com points out, “There is just one problem with this theory. Nobody has bothered to look up data for the control group: the list of dealerships which aren’t being closed. It turns out that all car dealers are, in fact, overwhelmingly more likely to donate to Republicans than to Democrats — not just those who are having their doors closed.”

Silver crunched the numbers, and found that 88% of auto dealers identified themselves as Republicans. Doug Ross came up with 92% as the number of car dealers who donated to Republicans. Could it be that more Republican dealerships are being closed because dealers are much more likely to be Republicans?

Obviously, this couldn’t be the answer because it is logical and makes sense. Instead the right wing media would prefer to believe a conspiracy theory that has no evidence supporting it. This bit of right wing paranoia has been debunked.

28 Replies to “Debunking the Obama is Closing GOP Car Dealerships Conspiracy Theory”

  1. […] budget was part of a nefarious Obama Administration plot: “Fiscal restraint for defense Debunking the Obama is Closing GOP Car Dealerships Conspiracy Theory – politicususa.com 05/29/2009 Today, Fox News joined the parade of right wing media who claim that […]

  3. and this is the best that the republicans can come up with???? now i know they are a nearly dead regional(vs national) party

  4. Actually Fox new stated the did NOT believe it to be a conspiracy.
    If anyone had actually watched the newscast they said, “We do not believe this to be a consipiracy, it’s just that so many of the dealership owners happen to be Republicans.”

    But I guess that would take too much thought….

  6. I am a republican, I do not believe their is a conspiracy.
    The fact is most dealerships are small business and most small business owners are republican. My only problem is that several heads and former heads of Chrysler have said the list was given to them by the White House. Again, No Conspiracy. It is just simple math.

  7. Well, so much for this Barack Obama’s claim during the election that he was going to run an open, ethical administration. Targeting and destroying the livelihoods of Republican supporters while rewarding his own? Robert Mugabe and Hugo Chavez would nod their heads in approval at this Obama tactic. Small wonder that our federal republic is foundering under this president, and is about to become only a larger version of the banana republics headed by Mugabe & Chavez. wholesale korean clothing

  8. This is so ridiculous. Again, it’s the case of Fox News slanting the truth instead of investigating it. And since a little investigation showed that 80% to 90% of dealerships are owned by republicans, what did Fox News say about Obama’s multi-billion dollar “Cash For Clunkers” program that tried to save them? honda fit fan

  9. Man this is such a crock. I am republican but lately the republican party seems to be complaining and creating conspiracy theories about everything. In fact I have stopped watching the Fox network station because of the false and even made up stories they have been reporting. Portable Displays

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  18. Robert Mugabe and Hugo Chavez would nod their heads in approval at this Obama tactic. Small wonder that our federal republic is foundering under this president, and is about to become only a larger version of the banana republics headed by Mugabe & Chavez. wholesale korean fashion

  19. I am a republican, I do not believe their is a conspiracy.
    The fact is most dealerships are small business and most small business owners are republican.korean clothing online

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  22. you really have avery nice blog,it’s the first time to be here but it won’t be the last untill then keep blogging.goodluck!

  23. this is the story quoted by specisl inspector general himself. This piece is trying to tell us its not true because Robert Gibbs says so….Oh boy.

    Decisions on which car dealerships to close as part of the auto industry bailout — closures the Obama administration forced on General Motors and Chrysler — were based in part on race and gender, according to a report by Troubled Asset Relief Program Special Inspector General Neal M. Barofsky.

    “Dealerships were retained because they were recently appointed, were key wholesale parts dealers, or were minority- or woman-owned dealerships.”

    Thus, to meet numbers forced on them by the Obama administration, General Motors

  25. I am a republican, I do not believe their is a conspiracy.
    The fact is most dealerships are small business and most small business owners are republican. wedding dresses My only problem is that several heads and former heads of Chrysler have said the list was given to them by the White House. Again, No Conspiracy. It is just simple math.

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