Hillary Clinton And Bill O'Reilly Square Off On The Factor: Watch Video

Hillary Clinton made her first ever appearance on the O'Reilly Factor on Wednesday, a confrontational but mostly friendly exchange that was -- kudos to Bill -- the most issue-oriented (if right-leaning) major interview with a presidential candidate in recent memory.

One of the more heated policy discussions came over taxes. O'Reilly demanded to know how much Clinton was going to "take out of my wallet," and when she listed a series of proposals to aid middle class families, O'Reilly interjected. "I'm not middle class, I'm a rich guy." Clinton responded (in an awkward moment), "Rich people, God bless us. We deserve all the opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue until the next generation."

Soon after, O'Reilly claimed Clinton's agenda had a "socialist component" because she would "take from the wealthy and...give to the less affluent. That's socialism." Clinton offered, "Teddy Roosevelt, was Teddy Roosevelt a socialist?"

O'Reilly: "Somewhat."

Later, O'Reilly told Clinton, "You're a more polarizing personality [than Obama]. You're like I am -- and I hate to say that, with all due respect. But you are! Obama's perceived as the nice guy." Clinton took it in stride, insisting that "you've got to be tough" to face the insurance and drug companies.

Finally, O'Reilly asked, "Are you surprised that Fox News has been fairer to you than NBC News, and a lot of the other liberal news networks?" Clinton dodged the question despite O'Reilly's repeated efforts.

O'REILLY: Final question, are you surprised -- and you gotta to tell me the truth here. You're looking me in the eyes, so I'm gonna believe you. Are you surprised that Fox News has been fairer to you than NBC News, and a lot of the other liberal news networks? Are you surprised?

CLINTON: I wouldn't expect anything less than a fair and balanced coverage of my campaign.

O'REILLY: I know you're being a little -- but really, aren't you surprised?

CLINTON: Look, I am not a pundit or a commentator. I will leave that to you.

O'REILLY: But they hammer you every single...

CLINTON: You know, that comes with the territory.

O'REILLY: I know, but aren't you surprised?

CLINTON: I'm running for the toughest job in the world. And it goes with the territory.

Comments

[KYJurisDocto]

04:10 PM on 05/02/2008

"Rich people. God bless us".

Now who is the elitist?

[ImLeft]

11:46 AM on 05/06/2008

stop being stupid. She is talking about giving rich people including herself a tax raise, so they pay more than the people who really need it. Some rich people, like O'Reilly, get upset because they feel its "unfair:" boohoo. She was only trying to make them see its right and to help them feel better about it. You all are so quick to paint her a devil. Think.

[shelobo]

11:15 AM on 05/02/2008

wow! Talk about Elitism ,THIS SAYS IT VERY PLAINLY "Rich people, God bless us. We deserve all the opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue until the next generation."Now if that isn't a elite comment an a outright 'snub' to middle and poor class people.They DESERVE ? Hidden meaning in her comment AGAIN?

[realpolitic]

02:24 PM on 05/02/2008

My God, you conservatives see "elitism" everywhere. That is the new catch phrase of this election. Is the only value worth celebrating to you that of self-interest. I am sure in your gosels Jesus came to argue for a cut in the capital gains rate and lower taxes to avoid socialism. I wonder if given the tax structure at the time, Jesus could deduct his country club memberships.

[snoopydog7]

11:15 AM on 05/02/2008

In the course of talking about taxes and what wealthier individuals should pay as a fair share, she showed her true elitist attitude about what it means to her to be a wealthy American. Here is what Clinton said, "And you know what? Rich people--God bless us." She didn't stop there: "We deserve all the opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue to the next generation."
I thought everyone had God's blessings not just rich people and that God's blessings came in many forms, not just wealth. Also I believe we all deserve opportunities to make sure our country and our blessings continue for all our children in generations to come. But apparently Hillary thinks that rich people deserve all the opportunities alone.

[realpolitic]

01:52 PM on 05/02/2008

Yes, that twisted logic was obviously what Clinton meant (or NOT). What do you do? Start with the term "elitist" and then work backwards to see how you can make her statement fit that characterization. Yoy are saying it is better to be absurdly wealthy like O'Reilly and have no other interest other than self-interest. How do you learn such twisted values?

[rwe2late]

09:30 AM on 05/02/2008

Hillary's statements about torture were most despicable and troubling.

The chief and ONLY reason she said she opposed torture is because it produces unreliable information. The obvious inference is that she does support torture if it may extract "actionable intelligence". Well, the argument of torturers is ALWAYS that torture MAY THEORETICALLY produce some "useful" intelligence.

She did NOT state that torture is illegal, unconstitutional, and immoral.

She did NOT state that the historical use of torture by governments has ALWAYS been intimidation, to get people to shut up, not to talk.

She did NOT state that torture depraves the torturer as well as dehumanizes the tortured.

She did NOT state how the tortured will say anything, including false accusations against neighbors, which produces victimization of the innocent.

She did NOT state that practicing torture does not produce respect, but produces enmity.

She did NOT state that practicing torture puts us on the wrong side of history, with dictators, tyrants, gulags, and concentration camps.

[LibRS]

09:44 AM on 05/02/2008

neither did she say that we have got some good information from waterboarding.

[carolh11]

08:33 AM on 05/02/2008

I am consistently amazed, though I should not be, with the MSM. Most notably, the conservative, right wing, corporate MSM pundits pandering for the Clinton candidacy. It's like they were comped front row seats to the Clinton show, ready to throw tomatoes, but in the end, are flicking their Bics.

It doesn't take a nuclear physicist to figure out why they love her so. They are screaming, "Hillary, no, don't go, please, no...we want more! What can we do to keep you here? Where's Bill, how can we help? Oh, say it ain't so! We bought tickets for the main show, and your the opening act?"

[realpolitic]

01:54 PM on 05/02/2008

The conservative media wants Hillary back in office so they can continue their assault exactly where they left off eight years ago.

[MikeL1]

02:41 AM on 05/02/2008

Hillary Clinton was extremely smart 2 go on O'Reilly. She should've gone on his show a long time ago. The only 1 2 go on his show more than once was Dennis Kucinich. Obama is 2 chicken 2 go on his show. It seems he'd rather keep singing 2 the choir. He's not playing 2 win anymore. He's playing NOT 2 LOSE! That's why dude is slipping.

The Dems never learn that in order 2 win the presidency, you must attract people like me.....INDEPENDENTS!!!!!! John Kerry learned the hard way. I'm in NO WAY a fan of HRC. But you got 2 give it 2 her. She's fighting tooth & nail while softie Obama "Uh"s his way into trouble. Dude better get on the ball & and GET TOUGH or get out!

[lizr]

06:31 AM on 05/02/2008

I thought she did really well -to my surprise. And Mike L is right.

Dems need to get on this show, and kick O Reilly butt.

And I hate to agree about this but-- Obama needs to get tougher in his speech- all those uhs and hesitating. He is clearly wounded. I think he needs another vacation because this Wright thing really took it out of him. My heart goes out to him.

Of Course Bush takes vacations more than he works, so O would never get close to that record.

[LibRS]

09:47 AM on 05/02/2008

you obviously have a short memory and are failing to recall the countless vacations of the clintons. flying hillary around the globe on air force one. you people are hilarious.

[shelobo]

11:23 AM on 05/02/2008

She is VERY ,VERY close 'friends'with the wealthy guy who OWNS fox.....jeeeeze talk about some one patting a specific class of people on their own backs "her comment on God Bless the rich shows which candidate is a true "elitist" People in Indiana and North Carolina can't be as dense as the voters in PA were ?Or are they ?Taken from Wikiped "in politics, it used to describe persons as out of touch with the common people. The implication is that the "elitist" person or group thinks they are better than everyone else, and therefore put themselves before others ,which she did when she said "God Bless US Rich "!

[Alyscha]

11:39 PM on 05/01/2008

I was SO heated after the o'reilly interview. I wanted to see her get owned BUT he was COMPLETELY disrespectful! this youtube video made me feel better. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beJ9yJpR_DA&feature=related

[realpolitic]

01:57 PM on 05/02/2008

O'Reilly is always extremely disrespect to guests from the opposite ideological spectrum. That is the reason he gets so few guests of any importance and with his brand of interviewing it is impossible to learn anything of importance anywhere. It is more like a mud wrestling match.

[Alyscha]

11:22 PM on 05/01/2008

kUdos to hillary! going on O'reilly was a good idea! Hes such a terrible person that he makes her look like an angel! Obama would NEVER go on o'reilly. He has to much respect for our country and himself to ever a) validate that devil of a man and his show b) let someone like that SCUM EVER disrespect him that way!


OBAMA '08

[LibRS]

09:55 AM on 05/02/2008

So Bill is bad. Obama is our heor. ooooooooooookkkkkkkkkkkkkkkkk

[Alyscha]

11:16 PM on 05/01/2008

i like hillary, i DONT like her campaign tactics post super tuesday. my vote is solid with obama. That being said, i have to give her credit for dealing with bill o'reilly shit! i cant stand that man! he was disrespectful all around.

[realpolitic]

01:58 PM on 05/02/2008

He is just a disrespectful, bloated egotist.

[mark77]

10:40 PM on 05/01/2008

Please. The liberal news media hammering Clinton? Every time I turn on every channel, it's Wright! Wright! Wright! Wright! No one ever mentions any negative Clinton news, such as the fact that she doesn't know how to use the coffee maker or pump gas. I don't even watch the MSM anymore, they're so mindnumbingly pro-Clinton. Not surprised that Bill O would side with Clinton though. Multi-millionaires got to stick together.

[verymad]

09:50 PM on 05/01/2008

I LOVE HILLARY.

Now a days I have to go to FOX to get my news.
I can not stand MSNBC any more.
I hate Chris M.

Hillary, please stay and fight. I will only vote for you this fall.

[AJ39]

11:49 PM on 05/01/2008

Perhaps I have watched FOX News a total of three times in my life. I have never watched O'Reilly, but I saw snippets of his interview with Clinton. And, yes, he was more fair and balanced than the frat boys at MSNBC. I would exempt Dan Abrams from the frat boy crowd. He's pretty fair.

[lizr]

06:34 AM on 05/02/2008

I beg to differ.

I saw him the other night SHUT DOWN Larry O Donnell who was trying to make the important point that is was a CLINTON SUPPORTER who arranged for Wright to be at the National Press Club.

ANd several other suspicious Wright sightings as well.

Abrams is a typical MSNBC hack. right up there w Tweety.

[realpolitic]

01:59 PM on 05/02/2008

I like Dan too, but disagree with you about the interview.

[wish4change]

09:34 PM on 05/01/2008

I won't waste my time reading the previous posts because I'm sure they're 90% in favor of Obama. Sorry to say, being a Dem as long as I have, I now need to watch FOX TV in order to get a fair and balanced perspective on this campaign. Last night I watched Hillary's tit-for-tat with Bill O and I must say, I enjoyed it tremendously. That lady (bitch by this web site's language) is what I want in my leader - non of this namby pamby "he strongly said or denounced" shit that sticks in my craw and leaves a bad taste in the morning. Say you?

[rajoro]

06:11 AM on 05/02/2008

Are you kidding! You consider Fox fair and balanced -- bigotry? Look it took a person of color with a serious shot at the presidency to make Fox, Scaife, et all to love the Clinton's. WOW... they just don't want to see "their country' have a black face especially one that won't tow the line for white supremacy (wink wink).

For all their hate and vitriol of everything the Clinton's stand for they would rather see them get to the White House again... they know Obama is up against a flawed canidate who will trip up and fall who probably can't win. McSame is a few years out from a diaper, his senility is already beginning to show, by late October he will be hiding from the press trying to figure out why he is losing it and gettin angrier and angrier that his faculties are failing him he'll lash out at others, my father at 75 began the same descent, watch -- if Obama is the nominee he might not win, but McCain will definitely lose.

[realpolitic]

08:26 AM on 05/02/2008

As a Democrat, if you watch Fox you must be lost or a sadist. Fox delivers right wing Talking Points all day and all week. If they are trying to get Hillary elected as the nominee now, in the Fall they will throw the kitchen sink at her and accuse her again of murdering Vince Foster. Their audience of the great unread will, of course, go along wth any sideshow they offer, as a child does on an amusement park ride.

[generaldelivery]

07:34 PM on 05/01/2008

Fact: HIllary handled herself better on Fox than Obama did when he was on. She's just a better politician than he is and thinks much better on her feet. Obama shines when giving speeches to large crowds where nobody can ask any questions.

[neocon666]

07:53 PM on 05/01/2008

And the fact that Murdoch hosted a funraiser for McHillary had nothing to do with sudden warming up to Fox News, of course.

[patmancando]

10:17 PM on 05/01/2008

O Reilly didn't throw softballs at her.........she can play hardball with the best of them.
I think she went on his show to contrast her abilities to Obama on Faux on Sunday, and boy did she show that she can answer all questions, knows what she is talking about, and even show a sense of humor doing it. I've heard some Obama pundits describe her performance as masterful.

[strifeknot]

10:35 PM on 05/01/2008

Fiction.

[kenjisan]

06:34 PM on 05/01/2008

Here is more media deviousness as being reported by Matt Drudge - hmmm.... I wonder why he finds fault in a former Clinton staffer hosting a Town Hall format infomercial for Clinton for free, where she had to pay Hallmark for the same type of Town Hall meeting?

here's the Drudge Report take on it as a developing story:

HILLARY 'TOWN HALL' TO BE HOSTED BY FORMER CLINTON STAFFER STEPHANOPOULOS

http://www.drudgereport.com/flashabh.htm

[DeanLowe]

09:34 PM on 05/01/2008

It's her fault that Obama doesn't have a former employee of his spouse to interview him?

He's getting the same airtime on a competing channel with higher ratings.

Stop whining!!

[the964kid]

05:49 PM on 05/01/2008

Interesting how O'Reilly put himself and Hillary in the same boat as both being polarizing people, and in the next sentence calls Obama a 'nice guy.' I know I'd rather be in the 'nice guy' boat, and not the 'polarizing' boat with O'Reily. And Hillary's 'god bless rich people' was pretty telling - if Obama was anything like Clinton he'd be cutting the switftboat style 'god bless rich people' ad right now. Oh yeh - but Obama's a nice guy...

[neocon666]

07:56 PM on 05/01/2008

He put himself in the same boat with McHillary the same way that McHillary put herself in the same boat with McCain (sans Obama). At this point I'm expecting an annoucement that she'll be doing an "inverview" on the Sean Handjob show any day.