Thu, Apr 13, 2006 5:01pm ET

Send to a friend Print Version

O'Reilly falsely claimed "[m]ost Republicans didn't want" NAFTA

Summary: Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that "[m]ost Republicans didn't want" the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was signed by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In fact, in both the House and the Senate, congressional Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreement.

During the April 11 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that "[m]ost Republicans didn't want" the 1993 North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), which was signed by the United States, Mexico, and Canada. In fact, in both the House and the Senate, congressional Republicans voted overwhelmingly in favor of the agreement: In the House, 132 Republicans voted in favor and 43 opposed, and in the Senate, 34 Republicans voted in favor and 10 against. O'Reilly's guest, New York City Councilman Charles Barron (D), noted that Democrats and Republicans supported the legislation. Democrats in the Senate voted against NAFTA (with 28 opposed and 27 in favor), as they did in the House (with 156 opposed and 102 in favor).

From the April 11 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Who wanted NAFTA? Who wanted it?

BARRON: Republicans and Democrats. Both.

O'REILLY: Mexico wanted it.

BARRON: America wanted it.

O'REILLY: Most Republicans didn't want it.

BARRON: Yes, they did. That's why they got mad at Bill Clinton for having him pass it.

O'REILLY: You think Pat Buchanan and those guys wanted NAFTA?

BARRON: They're -- they wanted free trade.

—R.M.

Comments (23) Show
 
Post a new comment

You must be a registered user to post and flag comments on this site.

Please log in or sign up to post in this forum.

Video Clip

Trouble viewing clip? Download: QT | WMV

 
Take Action!

Contact information:

Bill O'Reilly
oreilly@foxnews.com

Fox News Channel
FOX News Channel
1-888-369-4762
Comments@foxnews.com
1211 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10036

The O'Reilly Factor
The O'Reilly Factor

When contacting the media, please be polite and professional. Express your specific concerns regarding that particular news report or commentary, and be sure to indicate exactly what you would like the media outlet to do differently in the future.

Issues / Media Tags Help
Issue:
Economic Issues
Sub-Issue:
Corporations and Business Issues
Person:
Bill O'Reilly
Show/Publication:
The O'Reilly Factor
Network/Outlet:
Fox News Channel
Personalized Alerts
Show Your Support
Media Matters Action Center - Make a Difference!

Media Matters uses a taxonomy structure to help readers find information on various subjects. You can view all items by issue (the broadest category), view an issue's subissue, and even drill down to a particular topic. You can also look at items according to the related media personality, show/publication and network/publisher.

Social bookmarking sites allow you to save links to interesting items and share them with other users. Some, like Digg.com, also allow you to discuss these items and promote them to wider audiences by "digging" the ones that you like. To start using these services, simply register with the site in question.