Bill O'Reilly pretended his pal Donald Trump was presidential as he phoned into The O'Reilly Factor to respond to the Nice terrorist attack. But Trump was as clueless and amateurish as ever. UPDATED.
In a palsy-walsy 12-minute interview, O’Reilly did his best to lay the groundwork for his milkshake BFF to do his thing. First, O'Reilly stirred up the fear by announcing, “We’re in a world war scenario.”
Trump, of course, agreed. But he seemed to think those three magical words, "radical Islamic terrorism," were the key to fighting it. “We have a president that doesn’t want to call it what it is,” he complained.
Being afraid of Muslims seems to be the other key ingredient to a Trump doctrine.
TRUMP: We’re allowing people into our country who we have no idea where they are, where they’re from, who they are. They have no paperwork, they have no documentation, in many cases, and Hillary Clinton wants to allow 550% more than even Obama and he’s letting them in by the thousands. Out of control.
Instead of challenging Trump’s shallow, knee-jerk and xenophobic response, O’Reilly helped validate it by asking Trump if he thought the incoming Syrian refugees are threats. As if that had anything to do with terrorism in France. Of course, Trump thought so. He even had the nerve to say, “I’ve been studying the situation so closely.”
Sure he has. Just like he was studying President Obama’s birth certificate so closely he sent private investigators to Hawaii to uncover the truth – and never revealed what they found.
But O’Reilly went on to prod Trump to attack Obama some more by asking if the Nice attack would “change the equation” and make him deal with terrorism the way Trump thinks he should.
Trump repeated his magical-word “solution” and ratcheted up the attacking:
TRUMP: We have a president that doesn’t want to acknowledge what our problem is. He doesn’t want to use the term “radical Islamic terror.” We have a person running against me, Hillary Clinton, that, frankly, if I didn’t force her to use it – and she still hasn’t used the term but she said she would if she had to but she’s another one. She is very weak and she’s actually the one – and him – that really caused much of this problem.
O’Reilly interrupted to helpfully complete the thought for Trump. “By the failure to keep troops in Iraq and that raised up ISIS. They were able to organize because we didn’t have American forces there,” O'Reilly added.
O’Reilly closed the interview by slobbering over Trump for coming on the show on short notice. “That’s what the American people need,” O’Reilly said. But "President" Trump only wants to talk to the Americans who watch Fox. As CNN reported, though he appears on Fox pretty much on a daily basis, and phoned in twice tonight (the other time to Trumpkin Greta Van Susteren), he has almost completely shunned every other network.
Think he was that helpful when Hillary Clinton phoned in later? Stay tuned.
Meanwhile, watch O’Reilly do his best to pump up Trump's gravitas below, from the July 14 The O’Reilly Factor.
UPDATE: In light of recent news that Trump was waffling last night about his vice presidential pick, check out how he insisted to O'Reilly that a) he had decided to withhold his announcement of a VP pick out of sensitivity for the tragedy in Nice and b) that the terror attack had not swayed his mind at all. In other words, if Trump was having second thoughts, it was for reasons that had nothing to do with Nice.
Dude, even Fox News doesn’t want him in. The only reason they’re even half-assing the act is that they have a Blinding white hatred of Hillary that eradicates what little brains they did have. I’ve been reading that the GOP found a loophole that would allow them to oust him, and I’m wondering why they didn’t use it yet. CAN they still use it?
“By the failure to keep troops in Iraq and that raised up ISIS. They were able to organize because we didn’t have American forces there.”
Bill seems to have forgotten that Dubya was more or less forced to withdraw the US troops because the Iraqis were starting to reassert their sovereignty and demanding the right to prosecute—in Iraqi courts—American troops accused of criminal activities. Dubya wouldn’t agree to that (because he knew his con base wouldn’t accept it).
Of course, if Dubya hadn’t wasted billions of dollars in troops and materiel by invading Iraq in the first place, I strongly doubt that ISIL would’ve ever developed. Saddam had a way with terrorists. Those who furthered his goals were amply rewarded; those who got in his way found bounties on their heads.
The net result is “Clinton fatigue.”
The other problem I see is this election cycle she is completely missing the sentiment of the electorate. So she’s left pandering based on polls or copying the [IMHO crackpot] policies of populist Bernie Sanders. Which is to say her campaign lacks authenticity and genuine passion.
I can’t understand why the political polls have Long Dong Donald and Hillary in a virtual tie? Have we lost our collective minds?
I lived several years in France and friends there agree with me that it is the most militarised country this side of the USA and Russia. The country’s recent experience is strong evidence that strong-arm tactics don’t work. What does work is (1) genuine respect for Muslims (something that France has not done) and (2) better intelligence, with a strong emphasis on working with the Muslim community, whose willingness to help will be heavily conditioned by the extent to which they are recipients of respect not disdain as has all too often been the case in France.
Mr. Trump would do well to take note of that.
But, I won’t be holding my breath. The man’s a bully and bullies often get precisely what they give to others.
YAAAAWWWNN . . . like we didn’t know that was coming.
I’m just surprised Drumpf beat Fox News in saying it first; that Ailes sexual harassment lawsuit must really be throwing them off their game . . .
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