Bill O'Reilly Interviews Dubya - Prologue
Reported by Marie Therese - September 28, 2004 -
Last week, FOX heavily promoted Bill O'Reilly's exclusive interview with President George Bush. The actual interview was taped on September 22nd at a hotel in NYC. In a move clearly aimed at blunting the perception that the President is fearful of hostile press and speaking situations, O'Reilly and a guest - Nancy Gibbs of TIME - discussed media bias against the President and why that has made him camera-shy.
[Begin excerpt] O'REILLY: OK. You interviewed President Bush earlier this summer, correct? I'm going to talk to him this week. You write that President Bush and this is in this week's TIME magazine. [During] his three and a half years in office, he's only given fifteen press conferences, the fewest of any president in fifty years. And he hasn't talked to the Washington Post or the New York Times in three years, but he's coming on "The O'Reilly Factor." Now I'll submit to you that he doesn't trust the elite media with good reason. He just doesn't trust them.
GIBBS: Well, the real advantage that the Republicans have in this race, and we're seeing this week how it is working, is that they've never relied on the mainstream media to get their message out.
O'REILLY: Right.
GIBBS: This goes back fifty years. And so, it's not an accident...
O'REILLY: If you were President Bush, would you talk to media that time and time again don't give you a fair play?
GIBBS: I would obviously like to see a president talk to everyone. I know how much we learned at TIME by getting to talk to him. But I also...
O'REILLY: But you wrote a fair article. I thought your article was fair to him. You didn't get any jazz from the White House, did you, afterward?
GIBBS: No, no, they thought it was fair. They said we don't agree with everything, which...
O'REILLY: Right.
GIBBS: ...you know, but that it was fair.
O'REILLY: But I mean, look, people said, "Well why did you get it [the interview with President Bush]?" I said, "Because I interviewed Bush the last time around and I gave him a fair cut. He had a fair cut. So that's why he's doing it." He doesn't trust these guys. And then, the evidence we just presented, I think, you know, shows that, as Evan Thomas said, eighty percent of the elites are rooting for Kerry. Would you disagree with that?
GIBBS: I don't know that anyone has even identified who exactly qualifies as the elites much less has...
O'REILLY: The national press, basically. (End of excerpt, The O'Reilly Factor, 9/20/04, 8:14 PM EDT)
On last Wednesday's "O'Reilly Factor" Bill O'Reilly devoted his Talking Points Memo to an explanation of why FOX held off on broadcasting the Bush interview until this week.
[Begin excerpt] O'Reilly: We will divide the interview into three sections. On Monday we'll concentrate on foreign policy. On Tuesday, domestic policy. And on Wednesday, I have some personal questions for the President. This is the second time I've interviewed Mr. Bush and I consider myself lucky. And it is my opinion that you will find that visit very interesting. I believe you'll learn something about Mr. Bush you don't know. And even people who don't like him will be surprised how he answers some of the questions. ... The President was straightforward and I enjoyed the conversation...
The reason we are holding the interview until next week is purely promotional. It's like opening a movie. We want to get a lot of buzz so that people who don't ordinarily watch the news - even the mall people - will watch this. I understand I'm gonna take some heat from all sides ... it's my job to show you exactly who the powerful people are and what they think in the country... [End excerpt, The O'Reilly Factor, 9/22/04 8:00 PM EDT]
Last night O'Reilly devoted his Talking Points Memo yet again to the exclusive Presidential interview:
[Begin excerpt.] O'Reilly: First of all, I really respect the President for doing the interview. He didn't have to. He's ahead in the polls and could have avoided us, as many politicians do.
But, Mr. Bush is confident in his positions and faced the questions head on, as you will see. He rarely dodged anything and was precise in most of his answers. The President did not receive the questions in advance nor were there any restrictions on what I could ask again. That's impressive.
Even if you don't support Mr. Bush, you have to admire his willingness to discuss the issues in a venue like this. By the way, we didn't edit any of the President's comments. We have to take some breaks, but you will hear everything he said to me in the order in which he said it. No editing. No spin. Also, we've been talking to Senator Kerry's people about him coming on "The Factor". We hope it happens. There's no reason it should not happen. We've been very fair to the Senator, as everybody knows.
But, remember, Al Gore would not answer our questions, even though we bailed him out of the Florida school child controversy. Member that? We produced the little girl who wrote him a letter saying she didn't have a desk in her classroom. Some of the press scorned that. Now Mr. Gore cited our report in his press conference on the matter, then turned around and dodged us. Obviously, we do not respect that decision and to this day I simply believe he's too frightened to do an interview here, as is Howard Dean, Donald Rumsfeld, Ted Kennedy and Tom Delay.
Certain powerful people just don't want to field tough questions and we will always name those names. Over the next three nights you will learn just how President Bush sees America as it stands now and why he's done what he's done. Talking Points hopes these talks will help you decide whether or not to vote for Mr. Bush. The purpose of all our interviews is to give YOU a clear and fair look at the person answering the questions. We believe we've accomplished that with the President, but we want to know what you think. All this week we will be taking your questions and comments about the interview on the Radio Factor. All of our more than 400 stations are listed on billoreilly.com. So, go to the website, find out the station in your city. We'll also read your comments in extended e-mail segments on "The Factor".
News Hounds Visitors PLEASE NOTE: The actual transcript is posted SEPARATELY and is quite long.
Comment:
With respect to courage, I need only remember that President Bush dissed the NAACP this year, refusing to speak at their annual convention because the audience was "hostile", whereas John Kerry toughed it out in front of the American Legion, who barely applauded him and were clearly upset that he - a member veteran - would not grovel at their feet and apologize to the Smear Boat Vets for What Passes for Truth.
One guy's got real guts. He steeled himself and met the enemy in the heart of the South. The other guy's a spineless jellyfish who ran away at the prospect of facing a bunch of angry African American voters!
Once you've read the transcript (or if you actually saw the interview) why not take a moment to e-mail Bill O'Reilly with your comments at oreilly@foxnews.com.
