Olbermann awarded O'Reilly "Worst Person" "bronze" for asserting "there's no difference" between Arianna Huffington, Goebbels

Summary: MSNBC's Keith Olbermann awarded Bill O'Reilly the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for O'Reilly's claim that, in Olbermann's words, "there's no difference between Arianna Huffington and Joseph Goebbels."

On the March 3 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann awarded Fox News' Bill O'Reilly the "bronze" in his nightly "Worst Person in the World" segment for asserting, in Olbermann's words, that "there's no difference between Arianna Huffington and [Nazi propaganda chief] Joseph Goebbels." As Media Matters for America documented, on the February 28 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly said: "When Arianna Huffington allows people to say that Nancy Reagan should suffer terribly and then die, that is completely unacceptable and no different than what Dr. Joseph Goebbels and others were putting out way back then." On Countdown, Olbermann asserted that O'Reilly "compare[d] HuffingtonPost.com [the website Huffington founded] to the Nazis. Then, when a family member of Holocaust victims writes to him, quote, 'the meaning of their deaths means more than a comparison to a meaningless blog,' O'Reilly says he's wrong. And quote, there's no difference between Arianna Huffington and Joseph Goebbels." On the February 28 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly said: "There's no difference. When Arianna Huffington allows people to say that Nancy Reagan should suffer terribly and then die, that is completely unacceptable and no different than what Dr. Joseph Goebbels and others were putting out way back then."

Olbermann added: "[T]his is Bill O'Reilly, whose personal website last year had a post about assassinating Hillary Clinton. So if he really is convinced there's a comparison between Joseph Goebbels and Arianna Huffington, then what he's also saying is there's a comparison between Joseph Goebbels and himself."

As Media Matters also documented, during the February 27 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly attacked Huffington over comments (since removed) that readers posted to a Huffington Post item reporting the hospitalization of former first lady Nancy Reagan after a fall. O'Reilly said: "I don't see any difference between Huffington and the Nazis. ... I don't see any difference."

From the March 3 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: A catch in the throat and a weary admission might have helped her win New Hampshire. Could a cameo on Saturday Night Live do the same for Ohio and Texas? That's next. But first, our number-two story, Countdown's "Worst Persons in the World."

O'REILLY [video clip]: And I don't want to go on a lynching party ... unless --

OLBERMANN: The bronze to Bill-O. First, he compares HuffingtonPost.com to the Nazis. Then, when a family member of Holocaust victims writes to him, quote, "the meaning of their deaths means more than a comparison to a meaningless blog," O'Reilly says he's wrong. And, quote, there's no difference between Arianna Huffington and Joseph Goebbels, because a message of hate was posted about Nancy Reagan on HuffingtonPost.com and then removed.

Again, this is Bill O'Reilly, whose personal website last year had a post about assassinating Hillary Clinton. So if he really is convinced there's a comparison between Joseph Goebbels and Arianna Huffington, then what he's also saying is there's a comparison between Joseph Goebbels and himself.

—T.A.