Olbermann named O'Reilly "Worst Person in the World" for saying he would run Iraq "like Saddam"

Summary: Bill O'Reilly won Keith Olbermann's "Worst Person in the World" award for stating that if he were president of Iraq, he would "run that country just like Saddam ran it."

On the June 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann named Fox News host Bill O'Reilly the winner of his nightly "Worst Person in the World" award for O'Reilly's statement -- which Media Matters for America documented -- that if O'Reilly were president of Iraq, he would "run that country just like [former dictator] Saddam [Hussein] ran it." Olbermann responded: "In other words, Bill-O, you depose Saddam at great loss of life, and then three years later, you bring back his methods."

Olbermann has repeatedly labeled O'Reilly the "Worst Person in the World," including on the May 26 edition of Countdown, over O'Reilly's claim -- highlighted by Media Matters -- that "no far-right person in this country is going to get the cover of Time magazine."

From the June 20 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: But the winner -- oh, he's back! Explaining that if he were president of Iraq, he'd simply institute 7 p.m. curfews, put 60,000 troops onto the streets with orders to shoot to kill any violators. "That's me, President O'Reilly, that's how I run that country, just like Saddam ran it. Now, is this the kind of country I want for Iraq? No, but you have to have that for a few months to stabilize the situation." In other words, Bill-O, you depose Saddam at great loss of life, and then three years later, you bring back his methods. Bill O'Reilly, today's -- can we get him that gig for president of Iraq? I'll vote for him. Today's "Worst Person in the World."

—M.S.