Bill O’Reilly took advantage of his friendship with Donald Trump to get him to call into The O’Reilly Factor while his own convention was going on and then tried to persuade him to prosecute Black Lives Matter, the group O’Reilly has it in for. Fortunately, Fox’s Charles Krauthammer did a terrific job of smacking it down later.
O’Reilly has long been after the Black Lives Matter group. He has accused them of “killing Americans,” vowed to put them “out of business,” and has declared that Martin Luther King “would not articipate” in their demonstrations. So it was no surprise that almost as soon as he got his milkshake BFF on the phone, O’Reilly started in on the group.
After all, since O’Reilly has has insisted that Trump can’t be a racist because he’s not David Duke, it was up to O’Reilly to make sure Trump doesn’t get too soft on African Americans.
Here’s O’Reilly looking out for you, so long as you hate Black Lives Matter, too, via Media Matters:
O’REILLY: What about the Black Lives Matter movement? Will they be singled out as a provocateur in this terrible situation?
TRUMP: Well, you see them marching and you see them on occasion, at least, I have seen it, where they are essentially calling death to the police. And that’s not acceptable whether you like them or don’t like them, that, Bill, is not acceptable. But I have seen it and you have seen it.
O’REILLY: When you say it’s not acceptable, if you are elected president, what can you do about a group like that?
TRUMP: Well I think you have to look into it very seriously because people get themselves into big jams for saying a lot less than that. I have seen them marching down the street essentially calling death to the police. And I think we’re going to have to look into that. Especially in light of what is happening with these maniacs going and shooting our police.
O’REILLY: When you say look into it, there is a constitutional right, of course, to freedom of assembly and free speech. Are you saying that you would order the attorney general to look into it for possible charges?
During this conversation, Trump assured he is “probably the least racist person there is.” O’Reilly either agreed or chose not to challenge. “And I’m doing very well with the African community, the African American community,” Trump continued.
Yeah, very well, if you consider a 6% approval rating terrific. But O’Reilly didn’t correct the record.
Fortunately for the rest of us, Charles Krauthammer gave O’Reilly an earful in a later segment. From Media Matters:
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: You think a chant at a demonstration in New York is a reason to connect it with the killing of cops in Baton Rouge? I mean, if you want to stir up racial tensions, you can do that.
O’REILLY: So you wouldn’t make—
KRAUTHAMMER: That is the wrong thing to do.
Watch the discussions below, from the July 18 The O’Reilly Factor.