Bill O’Reilly’s ambushes need little introduction. Someone can’t (or wont) talk to him, he sends stalker producer Jesse Watters out to get a segment via petty harassment. Well, ol’ Bill opened up a recent segment by saying that since Vice President Joe Biden has “been very elusive” with interviews, it was time to start ambushing him. So Watters was dispatched to Dartmouth College where Biden was speaking.
Before the Secret Service escorted him away, Biden said at his Dartmouth ambush, which aired on The Factor on 9/24/12, that he’d show up if O’Reilly calls him to book a date. But this wasn’t good enough for Bill.
O’Reilly asked Watters, when he was back in the studio, “Now, when you confronted the Vice President, that’s as close as you could get?”
Watters explained that the press was enclosed “in like a chaned link fence.” But Watters and crew got general admission tickets. “So we kinda put our normal hats on, and went in with a little handicam. So when he finished, we beelined for the VP at the barricades before the Secret Service got there.”
Watters just admitted that he violated the press agreement for the event, and made an attempt to beat the Secret Service to the Vice President of the United States… just to harass him for an interview with Bill O’Reilly. He actually identified himself as being with Bill O’Reilly when he got his one question in. So how did Bill handle this?
O’REILLY: OK, so there was no press availability?
WATTERS: No.
O’REILLY: You couldn’t ask him any questions?
WATTERS: Right.
O’REILLY: So, you guys just bought a ticket, you got in with your little hand held, and you asked him that. You think he actually heard you?
WATTERS: (snickering) Well I think he heard me, because he was starting to walk the other way afterwards.
O’REILLY: (laughingly) Well, when my name is mentioned, that’s usually what happens.
Not only was it on the video that Biden heard him (and gave a clear response), but both O’Reilly and Watters thought that Watters’ unethical behavior was funny, and they found even more glee in painting the Vice President as a coward. You could hear people off camera joining in the guffaws, as well. Can you imagine if another outlet pulled a stunt like this on one of the GOP’s major names, then gave the impression that they thought it was funny?
O’Reilly thought Biden “should” come on the show because O’Reilly is such a big, important guy. “(Biden) basically is going to reach an enormous amount of audience, and we’d be respectful, as we always are… and he’s an Irish guy, he should like the debate.”
Right. After deliberately violating his press rules, painting him as a coward, and laughing at him throughout this segment, it’s easy to see what kind of respect this show has for the vice president.
Watters continued that “respect:”
WATTERS: Yeah, but do you think (Biden) can get out of the ‘No-Spin Zone’ gaffe free? Do You really think so?
O’REILLY: I donno… I’ll make more gaffes than he did. But we might have to send you back out there again…
WATTERS: I’m ready to go.
O’REILLY: …Because he said that he was going to try.
WATTERS: I’m Ready to go.
O’REILLY: Alright, we’re going to hold him to that.
Memo to O’Reilly and Watters: Hate to break it to you two… but you have given your target every reason to think that showing up would just be an insulting waste of his time.
I’ve really been wondering where are the interviews with Paul Ryan? Has he been on Bill’s show yet? I have seen little of Ryan since he was picked as VP. Have I just missed the interviews?