O’Reilly Lectures Obama: Abe Lincoln Would Not Have Gone On Funny Or Die

In case you missed it, President Obama appeared on Funny Or Die’s “Between Two Ferns” mock talk show with Zach Galifianakis today. The video went viral and reportedly spiked traffic to HealthCare.gov, which was the purpose behind Obama’s appearance. So, naturally, Fox News had to go on the attack.

Media Matters has a good roundup of the indignation. But I think Bill O’Reilly has to take the cake for making the right-wing complainers look old and out of touch with his argument that Abe Lincoln would not have done gone on Funny or Die. Well, duh!

Perhaps even worse, O’Reilly suggested that Obama's appearance would diminish him in the eyes of Vladimir Putin, as if Putin should now be Obama’s guiding compass:

For a president under intense scrutiny to do a comedy show raises some questions. First of all, I don’t really have a problem with it in general but I think the timing hurts Mr. Obama. The economy continues to be problematic and Putin is clearly testing the president. It looks like Putin believes the president is a lightweight. Will a comedy video counter that? Just asking.

Here’s the most important thing. The Affordable Health Care Act (sic) is dubious to say the least. And using a comedic website to enroll people? It’s a little bit desperate, don’t you think? I mean, I’m all for PR and if (White House Press Secretary) Carney wanted to go on Funny or Die? Fine. But the president of the United States?

All I can tell you is Abe Lincoln would not have done it.

There comes a point when serious times call for serious action. We’re a divided nation which Talking Points believes is in decline. Mr. Obama’s quick, has a good sense of humor. Those are assets. But he needs to be aware, he needs to be aware of how his enemies perceive him because I believe the testing of America is just getting started.

By the way, Richard Nixon went on Laugh-In when he was running for president and that was in the middle of an actual war. Fox News wasn’t around then to compare the coverage. But I think we can guess how it would have gone.

Video below of Obama on Funny Or Die, O’Reilly’s Talking Points and Nixon on Laugh-In.

Between Two Ferns with Zach Galifianakis: President Barack Obama from President Barack Obama

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NewsHounds posted about O’Reilly Lectures Obama: Abe Lincoln Would Not Have Gone On Funny Or Die on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2014-03-12 20:00:05 -0400

Well, duh!

commented 2014-03-12 14:43:34 -0400 · Flag

Quite correct, Abe would not go on that show, he would go on RAW or Smackdown!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q4LRSkUIp3M

His favorite sport was wrestling, after all.

commented 2014-03-12 11:50:45 -0400 · Flag

First off, Billo, you can call him PRESIDENT Obama, not Mr. Obama.
Secondly, I hope Zach auctions off the interview notes to charity! That would be hilarious, especially if he doodled some small pictures or words on them!
I would laugh if Zach went around asking everyone he meets if they saw the interview, as O’Reilly has done for weeks!

commented 2014-03-12 11:29:55 -0400 · Flag

Obama’s video seems to be a great success, so Fox MUST attack to distract from the success of Obama’s actions.

Putin’s Crimea invasion, of course, is about Russian power and nationalism. The idea that it is meant to ‘test Obama’ (who has been in office for 5 years now!) is a completely ridiculous and narcissistic analysis. Apparently O’Reilly thinks that everything that happens in the world has the USA at its epicenter.

If O’Reilly wants a strong president who will stand up to Putin, then he needs to support that president, but that will never happen. So it appears O’Reilly wants Putin to succeed.

commented 2014-03-12 10:50:43 -0400 · Flag

Isn’t it funny, though, with all the concern about America appearing weak in the eyes of Putin, nobody on Fox ever seems to think that their non-stop tearing down of our president over any and everything might be part of the problem? I mean, don’t they ever worry about how America’s enemies perceive them? Sadly, the answer appears to be no.
-————

Exactly, Ellen. The talking heads on the right/at FOX “news” including BOR (who hilariously fancies himself to be quite the “fair & balanced” analyst) insist on attacking their own President while providing macho praise and a kind of bizarre encouragement for Putin to challenge Obama. Putin no doubt feels rather empowered by the comments/attention granted to him by the Obama haters and is grateful for the very public tearing down they are giving their own “lightweight, weak, feckless” President. Pffft.

And to BOR’s quip that Lincoln would have never done “Funny or Die”, yeah, it just further confirms that BOR is out-of-touch and that he doesn’t actually watch “Funny or Die”. BOR has old-fashioned, “traditional” ideas about what a President should do/not do (when they are Dems, of course – did BOR go off on Bush for demeaning the Presidency and those who died in war with his comedic gem, the Oval Office WMD search? Um, yeah, I don’t think he did).

However, upon second thought, maybe BOR is wrong – if Lincoln were Prez today, maybe he would have done the show as, in several books/articles that I’ve read about Lincoln, it’s been mentioned that Lincoln had a wicked, biting wit/sense of humor. He might have enjoyed mixing it up with Zach for a good cause.

commented 2014-03-12 09:51:27 -0400 · Flag

The only thing Abe Lincoln wouldn’t have done was be interviewed by a " Two bit" entertainer at Super Bowl half time.

commented 2014-03-12 09:34:37 -0400 · Flag

Some say that most of Bildo’s geriatric audience remembers Lincoln as President.

commented 2014-03-12 09:06:01 -0400 · Flag

Zach whatever-his-name-is isn’t funny.

commented 2014-03-12 08:46:59 -0400 · Flag

The Scowling, Finger-Pointing of William James O’Reilly Juniior, must have his Late Dear Old Dad looking up and scowling as well.——— How about it Junior, did your Dear Old Dad give this same Screech back in the 1960s???——- As the old saying goes “The Acorn (or in this case The A-Hole) falls not far from the Tree”.

commented 2014-03-12 07:42:25 -0400 · Flag

Multiple possibilities for outrageous comment of the week from Billo last night! It will be difficult to narrow it down to one! LOL

commented 2014-03-12 07:37:23 -0400 · Flag

I’m trying to decide who was more hilarious! Zach and Obama, or Billo trying to convince us the president felt uncomfortable and was demeaned! LOL
This was a classic!!!

commented 2014-03-12 06:42:14 -0400 · Flag

Maybe if Lincoln HAD gone on Funny Or Die instead of going to Ford Theater, things would have been different for him.

commented 2014-03-12 05:38:46 -0400 · Flag

If TV had been around Abe Lincoln never would have been elected!. i wonder What happened to Emboldening our enemies fox was saying how unpatriotic people were when speaking ill of GWB

commented 2014-03-12 04:07:08 -0400 · Flag

“But he needs to be aware, he needs to be aware of how his enemies perceive him because I believe the testing of America is just getting started.”

B-b-but I thought we didn’t give a sh*t what the rest of the world thought of us, BillO.

Oh wait, I forgot: that’s only when a a white repub the rest of the world hates is in the WH . . .

.

commented 2014-03-12 02:37:45 -0400 · Flag

Billy, Abe Lincoln would never go on any talk show because tv wasn’t invented yet, you senile old man.

The suits don’t care for this old Pooka. They keep him because of ratings, otherwise they would have replaced him with a younger female host.

NewsHounds posted about O’Reilly Lectures Obama: Abe Lincoln Would Not Have Gone On Funny Or Die on NewsHounds' Facebook page 2014-03-12 00:08:56 -0400

Just how out of touch can O'Reilly look?

commented 2014-03-12 00:06:28 -0400 · Flag

Billo got this idea from Andrew Napolitano.