New York– Dr. Laura Schlessinger, the radio therapist who ignited controversy last August with her repeated use of the “N-word” while speaking to an African-American caller on air and subsequently moved from broadcast radio to satellite, said Tuesday: “To call me a racist? That was absurd.”
During an appearance on TODAY to promote a new book, Schlessinger told Kathie Lee Gifford and Hoda Kotb: “What it is is, I’m a social conservative; that’s what it’s about.”
Read an excerpt from Dr. Laura’s new book
Schlessinger also made it clear she feels singled out for her political views — she has spoken out against extramarital sex, working mothers, abortion and gay rights, among other issues — during an earlier TODAY interview with Matt Lauer.
“With the Urban League coming after me, the NAACP, Media Matters (Media Matters for America, a progressive watchdog group) … all without talking to me at all; deciding I should be silenced,” she told Lauer. “That’s when I realized I had to go on Sirius XM or something like that in order to have the freedom of speech without being assassinated.”
