Bill O’Reilly's ridiculously pro-Trump spin on the mounting evidence of his buddy's ties to Russia proved O'Reilly was looking out more for GOP politics than for the majority of Americans who want an independent investigation into the matter.
Last night, on The O’Reilly Factor, O’Reilly discussed a USA Today/Suffolk University poll that found, as guest Geraldo Rivera put it, two thirds of Americans “want to get to the bottom of that story,” meaning Russia’s meddling into the U.S. election and the nature and extent of Trump’s ties to that country.
USA Today reported:
By 58%-35%, those surveyed support an independent inquiry, an idea backed by Democratic leaders and a handful of congressional Republicans who argue that a special prosecutor or bipartisan commission should be appointed. White House officials and leaders of the GOP-controlled House and Senate say an ongoing FBI investigation and oversight by congressional committees are sufficient.
[…]
By an overwhelming 2-1, 63%-31%, Americans see the issue of Moscow’s meddling in the presidential election as a serious issue. Close to half call it “very serious;” just one in five dismiss it as “not at all serious.”
Although the poll found that Republicans are “divided” on the issue, 40% think the issue is serious and 29% support an independent investigation. However, among voters who called Fox News their “most trusted” news source, “60% said it wasn’t very or not at all serious and 67% said there shouldn’t be an outside investigation.”
Apparently, O’Reilly thinks it’s his job to maintain or improve those numbers on behalf of his milkshake BFF. O'Reilly announced, “That Russian story, that’s starting to dive now big time because there’s just no evidence to back it up.”
Just a quick check of some recent stories shows that Trump’s Russia problem is not only very much still on the surface but that new, relevant information about his ties keeps coming out:
- Report: Trump adviser communicated with Russian hackers before election (Think Progress, 3/9/17)
- Connecting Trump’s Dots to Russia (New York Times, 3/9/17)
- Authorities looked into Manafort protégé: An associate of an ex-Trump campaign chairman is suspected of connections to Russian intelligence (Politico, 3/8/17)
Watch O’Reilly pull the wool over viewers’ eyes below, from the March 8, 2017 The O’Reilly Factor.
The clear intent is to convince the Fox News viewers that a whole bunch of former Obama staffers are somehow undermining the Pence White House in a coordinated effort. The reality that the leaks are likely coming from non-partisan career White House staffers and alarmed GOP staffers is one that the Right Wing does not dare acknowledge.
That being said, O’Reilly is correct that investigations will likely go nowhere, given that Mike Pence has control over what happens at the White House and great influence over what the majorities in each house of Congress do. So we’re not going to be seeing a full court press on anything about all the Russian stuff. But the leaks will continue and the information will continue to drip out over the next couple of years.
Ironic that Fox News is suddenly concerned about leaks when they openly embraced them during the Obama Administration and the Clinton campaign.
