Rachel Maddow Says It's 'Untenable' For Fox News To Continue To Stand By O'Reilly

Rachel Maddow Doesn't Think Fox News Can Stand By O'Reilly Much Longer

As the controversy surrounding Bill O'Reilly and his war reporting experiences continues to heat up, with more allegations coming out each day, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow wonders how much longer Fox News can stand by the host.

On Wednesday evening, Maddow spoke with Mother Jones author David Corn, one of the journalists who wrote the original report revealing the inaccuracies in O'Reilly's story. O'Reilly subsequently called Corn "a liar" and said that he deserves to be put in "the kill zone." On Tuesday, the Fox News host threatened a New York Times reporter covering the scandal: "I am coming after you with everything I have," O'Reilly said.

"Apparently, they [Fox News] think it's proper for one journalist to call another one names," Corn told Maddow. "Not that it scares me off the story, but I have family and I have friends who are concerned about me now."

Corn called the threats "highly inappropriate" and noted that O'Reilly still has not disproven "a single fact" from his piece.

Maddow said that after his threats to Corn and the Times' reporter, it is "untenable" for Fox News to stand by him.

"They employ a lot of journalists, including those who work in risky situations," she said. "Fox is a good place to work for journalists."

Maddow made a similar point on her show one night earlier, questioning what O'Reilly's behavior will do to Fox News' "work environment" and to the "real reporters" that work there.

Fox News issued the same statement to MSNBC and The Huffington Post:

Bill O’Reilly has already addressed several claims leveled against him. This is nothing more than an orchestrated campaign by far left advocates Mother Jones and Media Matters. Responding to the unproven accusation du jour has become an exercise in futility. Fox News maintains its staunch support of O’Reilly, who is no stranger to calculated onslaughts.

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