Bill O'Reilly: MSNBC's Pat Buchanan Has Been Saying This Stuff For Years (VIDEO)

Bill O'Reilly hosted a discussion regarding conservative pundit Pat Buchanan and his recent absence from the network that employs him during his Fox News show on Thursday.

O'Reilly was referring to how MSNBC has kept Buchanan off the air for months since the release of his new book "Suicide of a Superpower," which consists of racially charged sentiments and discussions of topics like "the end of white America."

While some activist groups have called for MSNBC to either fire or sanction Buchanan, some pundits on Fox News have defended Buchanan and his new book. Earlier this month, Fox News host Gregg Jarrett and contributor Liz Trotta harshly criticized MSNBC for taking Buchanan off the air. Trotta even called MSNBC "close to being a Communist channel."

On "The O'Reilly Factor" Thursday night, O'Reilly hosted two guests who sat on opposite sides of the Buchanan issue. Washington Post Magazine's Cathy Areu called for Buchanan's firing, while Fox News' Sandy Rios staunchly defended Buchanan, his book, and his first amendment rights.

While O'Reilly primarily argued that Buchanan should not have been taken off the air, he did defend MSNBC's right to fire him.

"You're right," O'Reilly said to Rios after she argued that MSNBC was violating Buchanan's first amendment rights. "Buchanan has the right to say whatever he wants to say as long as it's not endangering someone. But MSNBC is a private operation, they can hire and fire whoever they want. So, it's there prerogative to put him on the air or not."

O'Reilly said he really felt that "Buchanan is not saying anything now that he hasn't said before in plenty of different forums. [MSNBC] knew what they were getting when they hired him...And now they go 'well we don't like it now.' I don't think that's fair."

O'Reilly later added that he was not going to take any sides on this issue but suggested that viewers "check out Buchanan's book for themselves."

WATCH (via Mediaite):

Also on HuffPost:

View the slideshow below for more controversial Pat Buchanan moments:

• Buchanan calls Obama Al Sharpton's 'boy' on debt deal

• Pat Buchanan: Black people bought 'propaganda' on the 'liberal plantation'

• Pat Buchanan: Sonia Sotomayor an 'affirmative-action appointment,' U.S. 'built basically by white folks'

• Pat Buchanan: Santorum's 'facts are correct' on black people and abortion

• Pat Buchanan defends Geraldine Ferraro's comments that Obama received preferential treatment because he was black

• Pat Buchanan attacks gay marriage, judge who struck down Prop 8

• Buchanan supports limiting Muslim immigration, mosques

• Pat Buchanan tells black MSNBC guest: "You can keep your 14th Amendment rights -- with some modifications."

• Pat Buchanan: There are too many Jews on Supreme Court

  Buchanan complained that <a href="http://www.wnd.com/2010/05/153417/" target="_hplink">there are too many Jewish appointees</a> to the Supreme Court during Elena Kagan's confirmation hearings.

• Pat Buchanan defends Hitler

  Pat Buchanan wrote that <a href="http://buchanan.org/blog/did-hitler-want-war-2068" target="_hplink">he did not believe Hitler was to blame for WWII</a>.

Comments

[long lost cousine]

05:40 PM on 02/18/2012

Bill O'Reilly ... Ann Coulter ..... Pat Buchanan ... all fail to see that is county changes with the flow of people coming into it ... It is the people from our southern neighborhoods who are claiming this land ...just like we claimed it from the Native Americans centries ago ... I find people from latin countries to be hard working, loyal and family orientated. We really do not "OWN" this country ... it has been in decline since power groups (the very rich and unions) sway the pendelum to far ... causing a opportunity for those who will offer a fair day's work for a fair days pay. The rich fat cats on Wall Street are greedy ... we all know that ... and have lied to broke the law to improve bonuses ... but do middle school teachers have to earn $125,000 per year and do Police Offices have to earn over $200,000 a year (yea, I know it is OT, but still) ... my point is ... money money money money rules everywhere ...

[JohnBryansFontaine]

01:20 AM on 02/18/2012

Pat Buchanan's Fall: The "BlackListers" Speak!
By David Weigel

http://www.slate.com/blogs/weigel/2012/02/17/pat_buchanan_s_fall_the_blacklisters_speak_.html

[MistryMan]

09:29 AM on 02/17/2012

Bill O'Reilly, like Anne Coulter, make valid points when they remove emotion from their positions. As soon as they are cornered by someone, or made defensive about a situation, they spew rubbish. Given that they spend most of their time defending their position, or speaking to the choir on some topic or another, rubbish tends to flow. But that is the nature of entertainers and commentators in general, it seems, however, there seems a stark contrast between left and right commentators, a contrast I have not put my finger on entirely.

[beardown]

09:38 AM on 01/31/2012

Once again Bill is right!

[dbw53022]

08:24 AM on 01/31/2012

MSNBC is treating Buchanan like we treat prisoners at Gitmo. Indefinite detention without due process. Would have thought Billo would have liked that! ;)

[Allan Bartlett]

12:02 AM on 01/31/2012

Why don't you marry him ha ha

[north of the boarder]

11:28 PM on 01/30/2012

Bill O is a pinhead.

[lindaj3884]

10:20 PM on 01/30/2012

Well Billo, I think a racist like Pat Buchanan fits better in to the Fox News mold. We don't really like white supremacists at MSNBC.

[Scurvydog74]

07:54 PM on 01/30/2012

Bill-O the Clown...!

[ninagoneobama]

04:02 PM on 01/30/2012

Bill, mind your own business.

[ydnas639]

03:53 PM on 01/30/2012

Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah . . . O'Reilly has been blathering for years on a network that Kermit and Miss Piggy destroyed in 1 minute and 5 seconds:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8YhED4IgQA&feature=player_embedded

[TexianLife]

03:32 PM on 01/30/2012

Buchannan is trashy & trashy idiots belong on Fox News.

[Mwesley]

02:33 PM on 01/30/2012

I remember when Rev. Al ran for President and he was in the debates - he had a sense of humor and because he had no chance of winning he would say what he really felt. Rev. Al is no dummy. Like a lot of us, he made some mistakes when he was younger, but he has matured and today he has evolved. He does not lash out at people like Buchanan, he just embarrasses them.

[SWesley Mcgranor]

01:07 PM on 01/30/2012

Mr. Buchanan is a paleoconservative intellecual and in theory he suggests that whites uphold Americanism and its assimulation. Do whites insist on being called European-Americans, have white intellectuals engineered a consensus for such terminology? I do not think any Papist really assimulated in practise; especially Italians then, and Bosnians now. I find that any Catholic is detrimental to the system...culturally, politically and so forth. Besides all that, 'politically incorrect' speech is something we paleoconservatives engage in, it is part of our reactionary character.

[greytunes]

11:53 PM on 01/30/2012

Any religous extremist is detrimental to a secular, pluralistic system. Buchanan, Swaggert, Cardinal Coughlin, they all spread the religous exclusionist theology that can be such an asset to the military-industrial boys.

[henrypapillon]

12:06 PM on 01/30/2012

Liz Trotta is a fascist who should be in jail for suggesting on air that someone should shoot Obama.

[phal4875]

03:35 PM on 01/30/2012

Isn't Liz Trotta a gait for horses?

[henrypapillon]

04:10 PM on 01/30/2012

That would be the nicest thing I could say for her if it was true.