Bill O’Reilly continued his personal feud with his former colleague, George Will, last night. One day after Will once again criticized a book by O’Reilly, this time on MSNBC, O’Reilly just happened to call upon fellow Fox News host Lou Dobbs to go after Will. Everybody made it seem like it was only about Will’s criticisms of Trump.
In case you missed it, Will visited The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell show Tuesday night where he discussed conservatives and Donald Trump. Although Will never explained the exact reasons he was let go as a Fox News contributor right after Trump’s inauguration, it has been speculated that Will's termination was related to his opposition to Trump.
O’Donnell hinted that Will’s scathing review of O’Reilly’s book about Ronald Reagan may have also played a role. “It’s hard to imagine there not being some kind of tensions in the hallways about that,” O’Donnell said.
Will said that he’s sure there are “lots of tensions” in the hallways in the New York City office (Will worked out of Washington) and that he “certainly got crosswise” with an “O’Reilly Factor” at Fox but, “That’s my job to do things like that.”
Not mentioned was the epic shootout between the two in November, 2015, where Will called O’Reilly “something of an expert on misleading” and O’Reilly told Will, “You are lying.” O’Reilly also attacked Will on the air several times afterward.
On MSNBC, Will got in a dig at O’Reilly by saying about the Reagan book, “I read it, which may be more than O’Reilly’s done, I don’t know, decided it was an outrage and acted accordingly.”
None of that context was mentioned in O’Reilly’s No Spin Zone last night. Instead, O’Reilly framed the discussion by asking whether lingering conservative opposition to his buddy Trump is valid or just personal.
And who better to come up with just the kind of answer O’Reilly no doubt wanted than Trump cheerleader and Fox Business host Lou Dobbs?
Ironically, Dobbs accused Will of acting out of “absolute animus.”
O’REILLY: Do you think that there is any validity to Will’s argument? Or is it all personal: “I just want to get Trump?”
DOBBS: I think it seems to be absolute animus. He is speaking as if they are they are archrivals, that this is a blood feud, one in which, by the way, the president, to his credit, is not participating. Will, a once venerable columnist, essayist, is right now on a personal jihad against him.
O’Reilly did not point out that other conservatives also oppose Trump. O’Reilly did say he has never seen “this kind of animosity, venom and bile” that remains against Trump even after he has been elected president, as if the opponents are unhinged antagonists instead of principled dissenters.
Dobbs showed his own blatant animus when he suggested that Will is somehow in cahoots with Democrats. “It’s interesting that George Will made that claim [that the right will turn against Trump by the summer] about 11 hours after Senator Chuck Schumer had done the same thing on The View,” Dobbs said.
“Ooh, you think there’s a conspiracy?” O’Reilly said eagerly. He was half kidding.
“I don’t know, but if it is, it’s a left-wing conspiracy,” Dobbs replied.
“Maybe Will and Chucky and The View ladies, they’re meeting in a basement somewhere!” O’Reilly added, now obviously joking.
“What a band of renegades –alright!” Dobbs added. He was wholeheartedly joking now, too.
But the malice was evident.
Watch Will and O’Donnell below, from the February 21, 2017 The Last Word with Lawrence O’Donnell show. Underneath is February 22, 2017 O’Reilly Factor response, via Media Matters.
The GOP's conversion to a 'political sociopath'
Conservative commentator George F. Will left Fox News and the Republican Party over his views of Trump - who he has called a "political sociopath" (and much more). Will joins Lawrence O'Donnell to discuss why intellectual conservatism and Trumpism are incompatible.
MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell tells us it’s Will’s first appearance on the show. No wonder. Lawrence is a partisan hack who sees Will as a useful idiot for the moment because of his opposition to Trump. I almost upchucked listening to O’Donnell piling the saccharine accolades onto George knowing full darn well any time in the past he would have trashed him for being a conservative.
Next up is ‘Harvard trained journalist’ Bill O’Reilly who is a personal good friend of The Donald. Bill boasts they socialize together. Yet, Bill-O has no problem pretending to be a objective journalist in this set-up segment knowing crackpot Lou Dobbs will spew endless idiocy to prop up his political teammate, Trump.
And Lou doesn’t disappoint. What a ‘maroon’ (in Looney Tunes speak). Lou denies Trump is a protectionist overlooking his many public statements during the campaign talking tariffs. Depending on how much dope Trump has smoked, 80%, 20%, or whatever number he pulls out of his ass on all goods. Or maybe it’s just manufactured goods today. Don’t forget the idiotic Trump administration trial balloon of placing a tariff on Mexico to pay for the wall he claimed the Mexicans would love some much they’d hurl cash our way to cover its construction.
Lou lies like a rug claiming Will is in a “blood feud”, a “personal jihad” against Trump. No, like Will or hate him, he has at great cost trashed his career to stand up for what he believes.
Most interesting is Lou (and ‘Harvard trained journalist’ O’Reilly) dodging Will’s economic argument. Because Lou’s big defense of Trump is the stock market is rising since his election. Which is completely true. However, my longstanding view of Wall Street is the market is often irrational in the short term but rational in the long term.
Certainly, the current market rally is based upon expectations Trump will kowtow to business by favoring cutting regulations at the expense of consumer protections and business along with the 1%-ers will see large transfers of tax cut cash flow their way. Those transfers of welath will come out of the pockets of the other 99% or, as Will intimates, be borrowed piling on the national debt.
Hey dumbasses!!!! Will and Schumer are making bets on when the wheels are gonna come off of the Trump misadministration. Something you dumbasses have bet the house on.
