Video: O’Reilly grills Obama on Wright, Ayers, Kos, pretty much everyone
posted at 11:38 am on September 10, 2008 by Allahpundit
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As with Olby’s pattycake session, it’s the theatrics, not the (paltry) information gleaned, that make it worth watching. Try not to laugh when The One, asked how he failed to notice Wright’s eccentricities when hate sermons were being recorded and sold by Trinity, counters feebly with, “What can I tell you?” What indeed.
See Guy Benson’s fisking of the interview at Media Blog for a fuller analysis. One thing I’ll give Obama credit for: He’s dead right to note that Ayers had already been mainstreamed by Chicago’s Democratic machine by the time he arrived. In no way does that excuse his association with him, any more so than the left would look forgivingly upon McCain palling around with a clinic bomber who’d been “mainstreamed” by conservatives, but it’s a useful reminder that tolerance for Ayers is by no means a sin unique to Barry O.
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I thought it was a terrible interview. He never made him answer any questions and laughed and apologized when he made Obama uncomfortable.
Obama’s entire campaign is run on saying McCain / Palin are just like George Bush, guilt by association. But, it’s supposed to be childish and unfit for others to do it to him? Weak interview Bill.
Rogue Traveler on September 10, 2008 at 12:25 PM
I-I-I-I- Na-na-na-na- ma-ma-ma-ma- My God, the guy sounds like a machine gun!
crazy_legs on September 10, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Said I came on your show! After denying it for months and only to try and derail McCain coverage! What a schmuck! (Levin)
MarcusBrody on September 10, 2008 at 12:28 PM
O’Reilly was firm, and yet the left claimed that he shouted down Obama. Any reasonable person can see that the point was made and Obama came out not very good from that interview.
O’Reilly did his job. Got him the closest to these answers than he’s gotten before, and it was like night and day from Olbermann. And he did make him answer questions, and was at least as effective as Chris Wallace has done in the past. Such as with Clinton. O’Reilly only had a certain amount of time, and needed to move on to the next question if Obama was being evasive. He challenged him and moved on.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:30 PM
No McCain coverage was derailed. They broadcast a 10 minute or so clip 2 hours before McCain spoke. Nothing interfered with McCain at all.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Is Obama trying to lose now? Name calling, attacking McCain/Palin in areas where he himself is weak (experience, earmarks, etc).
Looking at his campaign over the last couple of weeks, he is falling apart.
Perhaps, seeing what happened in Georgia, it has occured to him he is just not ready for the presidency at this point…
Oh, and I have to give O’Reilly some credit, I figured he would softball Obama, but this might be the first real interview Obama has gotten…
18-1 on September 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM
I thought it was weak. Why didnt he bring up Rezko? Or Pfleger
trueV on September 10, 2008 at 12:31 PM
Fascinating contrast.
jgapinoy on September 10, 2008 at 12:34 PM
The interview was crap, and O’Reilly wasn’t very well prepared to do it right. Oh, well.
The follow up would be fun, though. Let’s have the Obama campaign and Fox News engage in a contest of sorts; it would go like this:
- Every night on O’Reilly’s show, he would start off by posting a comment made on one of the Obama blogs – DKos, DU, HuffHo – or something from a MoveOnObama ad. “General BetrayUs”, or “screw them”, or “I hope Tony Snow is rotting in hell; what a shame his pain didn’t last longer”, or something fun from the compassionate progressive community.
- The Obama campaign would then get to cite something said on the Hannity/Colmes slugfest, (”Obama’s minister is an anti-white racialist!”) or even Hannity’s radio show (”Ayers is an unrepentant domestic terrorist, and Obama has erved on committees with him!”), and O’Reilly would put them up side-by-side for audience consideration, or voting or something.
That way Obama could clearly demonstrate the moral equivalence that he is asserting here. That’s fair, right?
Jaibones on September 10, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Why don’t you tell the truth Obama, as you did in your first book (Dreams From My Father) — that you wept when you first heard “Reverend” Wright railing from the pulpit about how “white man’s greed runs a world in need”? You were so glad you’d finally found a church where all your racist beliefs were being validated. That’s why you stayed there for decades, and that’s why you’d still be there today — if you had not decided to run for president and realized that your membership in that hateful, racist “church” was too much of a political liability.
AZCoyote on September 10, 2008 at 12:38 PM
Obama says that Sean Hannity is the equivalent of the people on the Daily Kos. Good grief!!
mydh12 on September 10, 2008 at 12:38 PM
ROFL!
“What do you think you are?
A JediThe One? I’m an O’Reillian. Mind tricks don’t work on me, only ego-stroking…”dominigan on September 10, 2008 at 12:43 PM
Bill O’Bama or Barack O’Reilly, both shameless pandering whores!
dmann on September 10, 2008 at 12:43 PM
I recall he did bring up Pfleger. And that was Obama’s ‘Every tangential relationship’ comment.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:45 PM
Wow. The hate for O’Reilly is strong with this one.
In my best Yoda voice
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:47 PM
O’Reilly was sorely lacking when Barry compared Fox News’ Sean Hannitty to the crazy loons on the far-left blogosphere…”Yeah, but he’s a COMMENTER..” uh huh…
Moral of the story : Never share a “Fox” hole with O’Reilly…
max1 on September 10, 2008 at 12:48 PM
Maybe so, but I’ve heard O’Reilly make fun of himself and admit errors. Can’t say the same thing about Obama.
TooTall on September 10, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I watched this. I think Obama’s face is melting or something. He looks almost like a claymation figure. Well, …
Mr_Magoo on September 10, 2008 at 12:49 PM
Holy christ, by the comments of some here, you would think that O’Reilly has a diary page on the daily kos. Maybe Mark Levin should have done the interview instead. Like that will ever happen.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:49 PM
I think he just likes saying “tangential”. Kerry liked saying “Jenjis Khan”.
Mr_Magoo on September 10, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Lord, I couldn’t get through Bill-O’s tongue bath at the start.
Yeesh.
VolMagic on September 10, 2008 at 12:51 PM
Is this all about Michelle’s bad experience from O’Reilly and the spitter Geraldo or is this really an honest comment about O’Reilly. Because I must have seen a completely different interview last night than what being looked at here.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:52 PM
Ha ha you people think Bill O’Reilly is a legitimate journalist ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha etc etc.
Next.
Dave Rywall on September 10, 2008 at 12:53 PM
Of course the left claimed he shouted down Obama. If you sit in the same room and do anything but get misty and nod your head up and down, you’re shouting him down.
And of course it was more effective than Chris Wallace and Olberman. All they do is hold live commercials for Obama. When he disagreed with Obama, he should have justified his side for people who don’t know the back stories to the people/issues he was pressing him on. It’s the same as if Olberman was interviewing McCain, making accusations and not clearly defining his argument and reasons for disagreement.
Rogue Traveler on September 10, 2008 at 12:55 PM
And without McCain picking her, she would be very happy to say in Alaska being the governor of the state that she loves. She doesn’t seem to have national ambition. And she didn’t enter the race along with the others in the beginning of the republican primary. Palin will most likley be good for America, conservatives, and good for the republican party. If Fred! won, or Rudy, or Huck, who knows who the VP would have been. Bash O’Reilly and McCain all you want, but they are making more sense than a lot of comments I see here. Whatever. O’Reilly sucks up to Obama. Sure. Think that if this is what makes you happy.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 12:57 PM
The timing and duration of the interview series says everything about the depth of Bills W(hite)I(rish)G(uilt. FNC best change the name of the show to “The O’Bama Factor”
dmann on September 10, 2008 at 1:01 PM
Bill O’Reilly may be entertaining (like when he screamed at Geraldo over the immigration issue), but the simple truth is that Bill O’Reilly is NOT what he purports to be. He claims that his motivation stems from “lookin’ out for the folks.” I don’t believe that for a second.
My collie says:
CyberCipher on September 10, 2008 at 1:06 PM
This makes no sense. Like wise_man said, she’d still be the Governor of Alaska, and presumably happy.
I am still amazed that people think conservatism, religion and ambition are foreign to younger generations.
Rogue Traveler on September 10, 2008 at 1:08 PM
That’s incorrect. You can’t make someone answer a question.
What people will take away from it is that Obama couldn’t answer the questions.
You know what else is amusing? That when O’Reilly completely eviscerated Obambi’s lie about having no knowledge of Wright’s anti-American and anti-white hatred – simply by pointing out that all of Wright’s screeds were sold in the church lobby – Obambi’s pathetic response was “What can I say?”
Now that’s hilarious!!!
rvastar on September 10, 2008 at 1:11 PM
Mostly a useless interview (in terms of the line of questioning, IMO), other than Obama’s responses were weak, weak, weak even here.
NOTHING about the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, the ONLY executive experience Obama has (Obama was Chmn of the Board, a gig that he owes to Ayers) – where he gave away $100M in grants, and has NOTHING to show for it (which is why he doesn’t even mention it on his political resume).
avwh on September 10, 2008 at 1:13 PM
Gee you think so? I mean, it’s called …….. (wait for it) ……… the Bill O’Reilly show.
.
“This makes no sense.” Palin might have been motivated to run for higher office at some time. But the claim is that McCain might have played it safe, if not confronted with Obama. Who knows. This is getting into a ‘what -if’ that can only be solved by visiting other earths in parallel universes to see how things would have turned out different.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 1:13 PM
I thought it was a terrible interview. He never made him answer any questions and laughed and apologized when he made Obama uncomfortable.
Obama’s entire campaign is run on saying McCain / Palin are just like George Bush, guilt by association. But, it’s supposed to be childish and unfit for others to do it to him? Weak interview Bill.
Rogue Traveler on September 10, 2008 at 12:25 PM
Marines for Mccain on September 10, 2008 at 1:17 PM
No way Way can trust this guy to be Commander-in-Chief.. OMG..
Chakra Hammer on September 10, 2008 at 1:24 PM
I think O’Reilly did a great job. He was a little loud, at times, but he pushed things along, covered as much as he could in the time, didn’t back down on those issues that Bill believed had to be addressed …
It wasn’t a perfect interview (including the other 2 segments) but it was the best interview of BHO, yet, and certainly exposed his disingenuous nature. The “what can I tell you?” line put me on the floor. I could not believe he said that. O’Reilly was also the only one I’ve heard bring up the ’socialism’ angle of BHO’s policies, to BHO. O’Reilly even mocked BHO about pretending not to understand that his policies were socialist.
There was only a half hour to the whole interview, and I think O’Reilly did well within that time (and who knows what the last segment holds). He put BHO on the record about a lot of things and the benefits will accrue over time, to my mind.
I liked the interview, even though there were a few times that I, too, wished he had just gone in for the kill, but he did still better than anyone else who has spoken to the ZERO. I think that the O’Reilly interview did contribute to BHO’s meltdown, as he had appeared so flustered after he left O’Reilly.
progressoverpeace on September 10, 2008 at 1:25 PM
Ugh, excuses, excuses.
baxtrice on September 10, 2008 at 1:28 PM
Bill O seems to think that because he raises his voice and frowns he is giving a tough interview.
pugwriter on September 10, 2008 at 1:28 PM
That’s why the democrats boycotted Fox News for their debates, progressoverpeace. That’s why Obama avoided O’Reilly and Fox News Sunday like he did. That’s why he spent so much time being interviewed by the likes of MSNBC and the others.
wise_man on September 10, 2008 at 1:29 PM
DRywall, what would you know about legitimate journalists? Outside of Mark Steyn and Andrew Coyne, what do you have to offer? Heather Mallick?????????
either orr on September 10, 2008 at 1:31 PM
O’Reilly never mentioned OBambi’s mentor “Frank” (see Dreams of my Father) – suspected to be notorious Communist poet Frank Marshall Davis, or Saul Alinsky (Rules for Radicals), source of some of O’s and Michelle’s phrases in their speeches. Is this the Reps October Surprise?
UnrepentantRedneck on September 10, 2008 at 1:35 PM
Yep. Except for one democrat, who wishes she had done her interview with O’Reilly much earlier. The O’Reilly-Clinton interview was excellent, IMO, and helped both of them greatly. But … Hillary was able to actually answer the questions …
progressoverpeace on September 10, 2008 at 1:35 PM
this is choice.
we’re watched what some predicted earlier, a full fledge unraveling
of the obbie machine, thanks to obbie himself and a wise
Mc campaign.
jimmer on September 10, 2008 at 1:51 PM
Fox News and sean hannity is the equivalent of the daily kos and the huffington post.
peacenprosperity on September 10, 2008 at 1:52 PM
1) The association with Bill Ayers is enough to incite a coverup over the Chicago Annenberg Challenge.
2) Obama’s involvement with Trinity church started as a matter of political necessity (second paragraph), not “faith.” Implying he had no political affinity to Rev. Wright is disingenuous — that’s the only reason he picked that church.
desertdweller on September 10, 2008 at 1:55 PM
He wants to be held accountable for his own actions but his relationships shouldn’t be considered his own actions?
Anyone not understand barry? Let me help you; he has serious mommy issues and women issues because he feels abandoned by his mother. He loves/hates his mother but wants to be loved by her so he tries to emulate her radical politics. He never got over the normal adolescent/not belonging angst exacerbated by his mixed heritage(which he also blames his mother for) and in addition fell hook, line and sinker for the commies and radicals who were attracted to him for superficial politically correct reasons because they seemed to really like him. I could go on all day but basically the guy is a nutjob, baketcase and might still be elected president. Lord help us.
peacenprosperity on September 10, 2008 at 2:00 PM
BO is the world’s worst cross examiner and Hannity is one of the best. I’ve seen other interviews (HRC) and he can’t get out of his own way. He so desperately wants the interviewee to love and respect him.
Fact is, he’s a bloviating snowflake lightweight.
epluribusunum on September 10, 2008 at 2:21 PM
I think Bill was backing off when he did because he wanted Barry’s words to speak for themselves and this not to be seen as an attack ambush piece.
- the Cat
MirCat on September 10, 2008 at 2:34 PM
3) Never mind Obama’s Marxist father.
desertdweller on September 10, 2008 at 2:51 PM
Birds of a feather flock together and this duck walks with radicals.
Speakup on September 10, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Someone show me a tougher interview Obama has had than this one?
Most are like Olbermann, practically members of his campaign. This one at least had some good questions.
crscott on September 10, 2008 at 3:11 PM
What makes you think Obama would be willing to participate in a truly tough interview?
My collie says:
CyberCipher on September 10, 2008 at 3:28 PM
This man will not be president.
Black Adam on September 10, 2008 at 3:29 PM
I like when he said “higher taxes is being neighborlylike”, or something like that. Cuz libs are all about being neighborlylike, as long as it’s with someone else’s money.
xblade on September 10, 2008 at 3:45 PM
I simply can no longer watch this man lie through his teeth. Every time I see him hem and haw his way around these questions, I get so angry I want to start screaming at the PC monitor or TV.
Heaven help us if he gets elected – this country will be in horrendous trouble, from where it may never recover…..
rightinaz on September 10, 2008 at 3:54 PM
Wow. He called Sean Hannity hateful. Wow.
It also shows that he doesn’t break from his party, even if they mainstream a terrorist.
OneGyT on September 10, 2008 at 4:04 PM
Obama seems to think that as long as he’s talking, he’s giving a reasonable answer. No wonder he never published anything while in law school. His minders probably acted to save him from the embarassment.
snaggletoothie on September 10, 2008 at 4:05 PM
lol
Domino on September 10, 2008 at 4:42 PM
I wonder what the delicate flower Michelle O thinks about Bambi’s unnatural interest in an old white guy’s knee? Barry needs a slap.
UnEasyRider on September 10, 2008 at 4:51 PM
O’Reilly had only 30 minutes total for the interview. That is not an in-depth interview. All in all, he did okay on Obama’s leftist past.
Favorite answer: “What can I tell you”?
Well, either he is stupid or a liar. Either one, he should not be president.
PattyJ on September 10, 2008 at 5:32 PM
x2
aikidoka on September 10, 2008 at 6:45 PM
Someone who hate’s Oreilly described these interviews as Obama showing how he can’t be bullied.
Sure, if you mean continuing to lie to someone’s face is a good thing.
aikidoka on September 10, 2008 at 6:46 PM
People here are saying that O’Reilly was better than Olbermann? Geez, I would hope so.
It was not as hard hitting as the Hillary interview and he let Obama ramble on and on.
The test of an interview is did we learn anything new. No we didn’t. Oh wait, I take that back…we found out that Obama really doesn’t have anything to say.
Personally I think it was an over-hyped waste of time. The outcome is probably in Obama’s favor…makes him appear as being brave enough to enter the lion’s den so to speak. And of course it stroked O’Reilly’s ego.
Deanna on September 10, 2008 at 9:10 PM
Daley isn’t known as an extremist? It’s pretty much accepted fact that he rigs every election. Ayers and Daley aren’t great friends.
His response ‘what can I tell ya?’ is about as flimsy a retort as you can get.
Obama just makes himself look worse and worse every time he speaks off-teleprompter.
MannyT-vA on September 11, 2008 at 4:06 AM
Rush Limbaugh: “What can I tell you? The guy is Ted Baxter.”
CC
CapedConservative on September 11, 2008 at 6:35 AM
In answer to the Wright question, after he dissembled that he never heard anything like it while he was sitting there, and O’Reilly said that the cd’s were available in the lobby of the church, Ogama replied, “What can I tell you?”
Obama voting ‘present’ on his attendence at TUCC for 20+ years.
RickZ on September 11, 2008 at 6:43 AM
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