Citing McCain, Fox News' Doocy asserted, "Under a Barack Hussein Obama administration, you will wind up with higher taxes"

Summary: Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy gratuitously used Obama's middle name and echoed a false suggestion by Sen. John McCain that Obama supports raising taxes for middle-income Americans by claiming, "Under a Barack Hussein Obama administration, you will wind up with higher taxes." In fact, Obama has pledged to establish a tax credit for families.

On June 9, Fox & Friends co-host Steve Doocy told viewers, "Under a Barack Hussein Obama administration, you will wind up with higher taxes," gratuitously injecting Obama's middle name and echoing the false suggestion by Sen. John McCain that Obama supports raising taxes for middle-income Americans. Obama has, in fact, pledged to establish a tax credit of up to $1,000 for families, offsetting payroll taxes, and to roll back the Bush administration's tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans.

Doocy's reference to Obama's middle name recalls its frequent invocation by conservative commentators, falsely suggesting that Obama is Muslim. Indeed, Doocy's co-host Gretchen Carlson previously has said that the name "is [repeated] because the connotation is that Barack Obama is a Muslim potentially." Carlson, Doocy and co-host Brian Kilmeade were among the hosts publicly criticized by Fox News' vice president for news, John Moody, for repeating the false claim that Obama was raised a Muslim and attended a madrassa. Moody said in a January 29, 2007, New York Times article, "The hosts violated one of our general rules, which is know what you are talking about. ... They reported information from a publication whose accuracy we didn't know." Doocy later clarified that Obama did not attend a madrassa, but notably did not apologize for repeating the false claim.

From the June 9 edition of Fox News' Fox & Friends:

DOOCY: Meanwhile, today -- this morning -- remember the old slogan, "It's the economy, stupid"? Well, today, Barack Obama is going to kick off his economy tour. He's going to be talking about what he would do if he were president of the United States to turn the economy around.

Meanwhile, the John McCain campaign has already said, look, Barack Obama is a guy who throughout history has raised taxes. Under a Barack Hussein Obama administration, you will wind up with higher taxes.

—J.H.