Political History 101: O'Reilly falsely claimed Nixon never met with Mao
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SUMMARY: Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed Richard Nixon never met Mao Zedong. In fact, Nixon met with Mao in February 1972.
On the April 22 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly falsely claimed that President Richard Nixon never met with Chinese leader Mao Zedong.
While discussing President Obama's handshake with Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez, Fox News political analyst Alan Colmes said: "What do you, ignore somebody standing right next to you? Do we -- because he touched him, put his hand on his shoulder, shook his hand? Do these people have a problem with Mao and Nixon?" O'Reilly responded, "It was [Chinese Prime Minister] Zhou [Enlai] and Nixon. Mao was not involved." Colmes then said, "Did you have a problem with looking into [Russian President Vladimir] Putin's eyes and seeing his soul? Did you have a problem with any of the other --" O'Reilly interjected: "OK, all of those are valid points, as long as you realize it was Zhou Enlai, not Mao Zedong." Colmes replied: "Zhou Enlai, OK."
In fact, while Nixon indeed met with Zhou, he also met with Mao on February 21, 1972:
From the April 22 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:
O'REILLY: Ok, so the best thing that the president did in the past weekend?
COLMES: Well, he certainly had a wonderful moment with Hugo Chavez.
O'REILLY: That was wonderful.
COLMES: And now, I know that you people often think you -- when I say "you people," I mean, you -- probably think that dictator DNA got off on him, and he's going to come back and infect the United States because, look, he touched the guy.
O'REILLY: You like this thing?
COLMES: Do I like it?
O'REILLY: No, Miller didn't like this whole thing.
COLMES: Oh, what a shock. What a shock that Miller didn't like that.
O'REILLY: But you -- you -- what did you find worthy about it?
COLMES: Well, first of all, this shows -- first of all, what do you, ignore the guy? When George W. Bush was at the UN and asked, "Will you ever -- will you talk to Ahmadinejad if you're in the same room?" "No, I won't talk to him" -- like a 5-year-old.
What do you, ignore somebody standing right next to you? Do we -- because he touched him, put his hand on his shoulder, shook his hand? Do these people have a problem with Mao and Nixon? And of course, you worked for Richard Nixon. I mean, Nixon goes to China, do you have a problem with --
O'REILLY: It was Zhou and Nixon. Mao was not involved.
COLMES: There was --
O'REILLY: Yeah, Zhou.
COLMES: Did you have a problem with looking into Putin's eyes and seeing his soul? Did you have a problem with any of the other --
O'REILLY: All right, but -- OK, all of those are valid points, as long as you realize it was Zhou Enlai, not Mao Zedong.
COLMES: Zhou Enlai, OK.
O'REILLY: OK. Yeah, I don't want to confuse you -- the high school thing. But --
COLMES: Talk slowly and I think I'll be OK.
I can never get enough of Billo-the-clown making a fool of himself.
Having Bill O'Reilly discuss history makes as much sense as having Mary Hart host Meet the Press.
He wanted to show off but ended up showing off with the wrong information. If someone calls him on in, he will say what he said was true and ignore the mistake, if I know my BO'R.
"Having Bill O'Reilly discuss history makes as much sense as having Mary Hart host Meet the Press."
That's so crazy it just might work. Her journalistic chops are about equal to those of Dances-With-Roves, and her legs are much better.
Good point. She would probably do a decent job if the topic was within her area of expertise.
Could you imagine being in his History Class? Remeber, he used to be a History teacher. "Mr O'Reilly, what about Nixon and Mao shaking hands and smiling? This happened while to Chinese were allies of the Viet Cong". O'Reilly's response: "You need to stop frequenting the smear sites on the internet that traffic in dihonest info." "But Mr. O'Reilly, I saw it in Nixon by Ollie Stone." Oreilly, "Ollie Stone is a commie lover who is a historical revisionist." "If you say so sir".
Now Bill O'Reilly's claim he is a History tteacher and a journalist are really in question now. Hey O'reilly, show me your diploma. Keith Olbermann did. And thanks to that meeting, my sister got the rare priviledge to actually take a stroll on that wall and i am jealous.
Interestingly, wasn't it Billo who claimed, twice, that the American troops were the perpetrators of the Malmédy massacre? Now, as I recall my history, it was the SS who massacred U.S. troops at Malmédy, n'est pas?
Anything this "man" says should be disbelieved until independently verified!
Agreed. But I'm sure O'Reilly will do an on air apology tonight for getting his history facts wrong, won't he? Waaah!
I've heard O'Reilly claim that he was a history major in college. If it is, it's hard to believe because he gets his history wrong so often. Looks like his history degree may not be worth the paper it's printed on.
Hey, Wildcat, report this to FUX News suckerity scrutiny!
It ain't Bill O'Epilepsy lowering the tubes that our public schools are going down -- schools are LONGtime illiterate and B.O. is example of what came out the bottom, heck, thirty years ago already!
Here's the People's History of Republican Fascism, Chapter China Card, documenting the lethal bulldozing that plowed the annihilation path Nixon walked, grovelling to meet Mao, and, yes, Zhou.
Notice (in the linked web page) the blatant treason of Geo Hitler Worker Bush telling Zhou that China criticism in the USA was necessary peanut gallery chatter and to be ignored as Bush Sinister (and then Bush Jughead) ignore public presence, and Zhou nodded understanding, saying in inimitable Sino koan style, "ah, so, the roar of empty cannon."
Notice the massacre of 10,000,000 'East Pakistanis' thrown under the bus, (dubbed Bangledesh), in order to consolidate CIA control of ISI 'establishing' 'recognition' of 'West Pakistan' as singular Pakistan under centralized corruption, I mean, control. Months after this, (1971-2 Nixon re-election stunt in China), about 1974 'new' Pakistan suddenly, spontaneously (contemporaneously) got The Bomb (for selling its cultural soul, quid pro quo) and A. Q. Khan starts his (still going in 2009) illegal arms blackmarket dealership distributing know-how and way-how from a 'nuclear honey' pot sting set up (who?) for various Moslem-persuasion 'administrations' in the region to be co-opted in secrets-keeping, for coercive manipulation (blackmail) in Machievellian monsterism post-1976 (the single-year of his Director's throne-sit in which Bush Sinister got coronated Perpetual King of the CIA, and its HQ Building named for him, 1986). For sociopathic LIAR.
Notice all the high school-worthy U.S. History documented in early '70s Bushbonic plague infecting Pakistani public affairs, to decay and to ruin, is the cause of the corruptions and insurrections seen continuing in Pakistan now 34 years later. Pakistan = ISI (CIA satellite 'office'). Pakistan, where Nine-Eleven money came from. Pakistan, where bin Laden 'went.' Pakistan, where a Caspian-Basin-to-Ocean-Port oil pipeline must cross in transit. Pakistan, where the duly publicly elected house-cleaning disinfecting President Benazir Bhutto was strangely murdered in daylight crowds with no (surviving) witnesses. Hanging on Bush.
Here t'is, then, another nefarious chapter in Webster Tarpley & Anton Chaitkin's 'Unauthorized Biography of George Bush [Sinister],' in which (family nickname) 'Rubbers' fresh from Congress, into the U.N., shops the China bull, and falls prostrate to the greater goriness of Kissinger to take that mentoring as Poppy's dooDad Prescott died.
Get it? Bill O'Epilepsy !?
LOL....That's exactly why we have college grads who think when a politician says "Banana Republic" they are talking about a clothing store.
www.youralder.blogspot.com
I actually believe that, rather than lie, Bill'o is simply repeating what his teleprompter feeds him. He probably has no idea what he is even saying half the time, so I'll give him a break and just say it's ignorance. I know, maybe I am being kind, but that's the librul in me.
Maybe Bill would draw a distinction between a substantive meeting and a photo-op? Because it looks to me as though Mao is rather dismissive of Nixon in the news clips I have seen. Could Bill have a point, after all?
No Bill doesnt have a point because he said this in response to THIS question by Colmes
Alan Colmes said: "What do you, ignore somebody standing right next to you? Do we -- because he touched him, put his hand on his shoulder, shook his hand? Do these people have a problem with Mao and Nixon?"
What?!?!?!?! Is he insane? Oh wait. Were talking about Bill O'Reilly. I forgot he lives in an alternate reality.
"I forgot he lives in an alternate reality"
I think alternate universe is more like it. I can't see that ANY kind of "reality" exists in whatever universe he actually occupies!
I can just hear him now when he sees the pic of Tricky Dicky and Mao..
"F**k it! That f*****g picture SUCKS!"
Bill will just claim that picture was photoshopped by that media matters smear machine being funded by George Soros.
I thought of that too, actually
And mild mannered Mr. Colmes just lets it go. He must be a real glutton for punishment, after spending all that time with Hannity, now going on O'reilly's show.
By the way all Presidents have met with horrible dictators. Even Jimmy Carter was toasting the Shah while his SAVAK was slaughtering people in the streets. Hugh Chavez is no where near the likes of the Shah in terms of torture and killing. And Mao? Wow , Nixon was the head of war criminals.
Well, it made sense to deal with the Shah (we had put him in power, after all), because Iran had oil, while Venezuela...oh. Never mind.
I'm afraid you're both being anti-American. Don't you know everything America does is the right thing? I'm afraid I am going to have to report you both to Fox News Security. Expect Jesse to visit your homes and/or places of employment with a video camera shortly.
I'm sorry ... it's my patriotic duty.
Oh, NO! Not JESSE!
Will you call him off if I apologize to Rush?
Sorry, it's out of my hands now. Maybe they'll send Megan Kelly instead. (Not sure if this would be better or worse.) Or Ann Coulter. (Okay, THAT would be worse.)
That was awesome... I had read the first have thinking you were POV.
A stunning testament to how much of an embarassment O'Reilly is to American journalism, and how much of an embarassment American Journalism has become.
This is what the relentless quest for ratings and a high paycheck yields, complete ignorance and incompetence.
Bill O'Reilly is a Journalist??? I would never have guessed it...never was sure just what it was he did .. certainly not journalism ..and not enetertaining..at least not to me!!
Your last sentence sums it up well!!!
You're right, I didn't mean to imply that he's a journalist per se, but as a commentator on a "news" channel, he's under the umbrella of journalistic responsibility. As Moynihan coined, Bill's entitled to his own opinions, but not his own facts.
Why does Colmes just sit there and take it? I'd (like to) think that most people know Nixon met with Mao, but because O'Reilly says he never did, Colmes immediately aquiesces.
I have no idea how good of a teacher he was, but O'Reilly was once a reporter for a local TV station where I live and I can tell you one thing for sure, the guy has devolved.
But...he's certainly teaching 2.6 million viewers every night...
He's teaching them very convenient lies, and just about non-stop, too.
Great one drafted
<<O'REILLY: All right, but -- OK, all of those are valid points, as long as you realize it was Zhou Enlai, not Mao Zedong.
COLMES: Zhou Enlai, OK.>>
Wow, that's our Clomes, ever the stalwart defender of the truth. Clearly he knows how the keep his Fox Token Liberal gig going, anyway.
Nixon also met with Mao again on February 27, 1976. This was after Nixon had resigned in disgrace and a few nonths before the death of Mao. The Cultural Revolution was still going on.
I knew O'Leilly was stupid, ignorant, and an arrogant twit but this is really over the top even for him. Between trying to "debate" Colmes and Hennican, earlier about the wall between the FBI and CIA, Bill O really had a bad day.
I am anxious to hear all the O'Reilly defenders explain yet again why he does not know his American history. Anyone? Anyone??
I truly appreciate the certitude he uses when he is absolutely wrong. He thinks he is being clever and talking down to his guest when he is making an incorrect correction. It is a thing of beauty. But as long as he gets good ratings it doesn't matter how many times he is ill-informed on the subject he chooses to talk about. Right?
I'll take a shot at it.
O'Reilly clearly wasn't referring to the two of them shaking hands and being face-to-face with each other. It's very obvious that what he was saying was that the two of them never achieved a real meeting of the minds.
How's that?
Well played, sir. I have no doubt that if Jesse is monitoring this site, he will make the suggestion to Papa Bear.
My God in heaven above...how much more stupid can you be? On television? With 2 million people watching?
Just watch; the next time I get together with my FOX News conservative friends (yes, I have some, and we're quite close; we just don't discuss politics--well, not often), they will SWEAR on a stack of Gideon Bibles that Nixon never met Mao.
When the mere fact of Nixon going to China is now a catch-phrase for politics: "Only Nixon could go to China."
I'm surprised that a Peabody award-winning journalist like Bill O'Reilly could make such a simple mistake.
2 Peabodies, smear merchant!!!1!eleventy!
Sorry for the quote marks confusion, I was attempting to separate paragraphs. Apparently hitting return to do so is not something MMFA cares for. ;-)
Duuude...
It's crystal clear that your perfect pitch capturing of BO means that you are subjecting yourself to watching waaaay too much of him.
As an antidote to this self-abuse, I can only hope that you're taking in adequate amounts of Rachel and Keith.
Actually, I watch his viewer mail and Talking Points. The rest of the hour is spent with Keith. But Keith's number one story is usually not as interesting as the other four, and I need to know what straw man Bill is creating each day.
I like your talking points memo parody of Bill-O very much; very true to the little silliness I've seen of his show...
We have an old video of him and Al Franken at the bookseller show (also Molly Ivins) It's quite funny.
Fail. OReilly will say that he never said they didn't meet.
So we now have proof (not that there was much doubt) that not only was Loofah Bill a high school history teacher, he was a REALLY BAD high school history teacher. No wonder our public schools are going down the tubes, eh Bill?
Bill didn't spend a lot of time TEACHING in high school. A lot of it was just him checking out the teenage girls, and letting pictures swirl in his head for that horrible novel of his.
In all fairness to Bill, high school girls in the '70s did wear hot pants and crop tops. And necklaces made of loofah.
Put down that pipe, baby, and.....
I think it's time that several posters here apologize to Mr. O'Reilly. Several have stated that because he was a history teacher, he should have known about President Nixon meeting and shaking hands with Mao.
In Bill's defense he was only teaching in order to evade the draft, so he shouldn't be held to the same standards as other teachers..
Wow! Let me say I am so very impressed that MMFA found this egregious bit of misinformation. I'll sleep better tonight knowing that MMFA got one right. :-)
ps. I'm looking forward to the next thread exposing Colme's complicity since he did not correct Mr. Bill's right wing extremist misinformation.
I assume you're being sarcastic, but I'd love to see it. Alan Colmes is pathetic, a non-intelligent semi-liberal placed on Faux to show how "balanced" they are. The guy has never been anything but a puppet of Faux, and now he gets to make the rounds of the shows since he's no longer Inanity's punching bag. Well, not exclusively, anyway.
And I am not clear what your point in being here is. If you have no use for what MMFA does, but you constantly post here anyway, what does that say about you? I certainly don't sit around the Fox boards all day, making an ass of myself.
And don't forget Colmes use to be a professional comedian.
I would take issue with the "used to be" part of that.
Bravo!
I think the left-wing gave up on Colmes almost as soon as his first appearance on Fox News sitting next to Hannity. The guy was, is, and will always be a joke played on the left wing by Fox News.
While I am looking for your first cogent argument or any sense whatsoever from you in your long history of posting here.
aa, it is a lie. Would you rather they ignore it? BOs stupid viewers would think it were true.
I'm sure his stupid viewers would think it true if you showed them a diary Nixon kept that mentioned his meeting with Mao repeatedly.
My guess is that AA would have cited it later had it not been posted.
It is apparent that Bill was simply mistaken.
Yeah, it's not that he's mistaken that bothers me, it's that he being so condescending about it. "Oh, you poor bastard, how can you not know that Nixon never met Mao? Everyone who took high school history should know that!" Most people are not fans of being talked down to anyway (Colmes gets paid to take it, of course), but to be talked down to by an idiot who's wrong on top of it ...
More interesting will be O'Reilly's handling of this mistake. He has a history of either denying what he said, or lying about what he said. This blunder is rather cut and dry. If he owns up to it, then fine. Because that's what he should have done with so many of his other blunders. His ego is too big to do that, though.
Tell that to your friends who claim Obama's 57 states comment was more than a simple "mistake."
Completel, wildly, stupidly, mistaken about a widely known FACT, WHILE being astonishingly condescending to Colmes who was RIGHT. The man is walking monument to incompetence.
Even on the most egregious of utterances, the messenger exposing it is still the problem. Why am I not surprised?
I'll sleep better tonight knowing that MMFA got one right. :-) (Deputy Barney Fife)
And I'm glad that there are these occasional ultra-simple, objectively wrong, straight up fiction items on MMFA, the ones that don't require any capacity for subtlety or understanding of the complexities of more layered propaganda, so that AnotherAmerican gets to understand something.It's frustrating to see you posting here day after day, exposing your own limitations, and using your shortcomings as a basis for throwing childish insults at this site and the other posters.
Good job, Barney. Looking forward to future comprehension victories from your rotted little wingnut brain.
WOW another completely inane and worthless post from AA. What WERE the chances?
If Bill O'reilly or any other Republican talking head says it so then it automatically makes it true, no matter what the actual facts may be.
Tricky Dick is even smiling -- and it looks sincere, unlike his usual weird and phony grin.
He was probably dreaming of what HE could do with a few re-education camps.
I just wanted to say that I really like your moniker. Very clever.
While I applaud MM for pointing out the fact that Nixon did meet with a dictator (Mao), could they please point out that... Hugo Chavez is not a dictator? He is the elected president of Venezuela. He was elected three times, including in a recall election, in elections that were given a clean bill of health by international observers.
While American multi-national corporations and their lapdogs in the US Congress may not like the socialist policies of Chavez, those are the policies that a wide majority (>60%) of Venezuelans chose when they elected, relected and then relected again Senor Chavez. The man is not a dictator.
It's amazing that he knew about Zhou Enlai, but didn't know the (much more basic) fact that Nixon met with Mao.
Is media matters afraid of free speech? Why do posts have to go through such a wash before they get posted? Wow, I thought you were the liberals. Aren't you supposed to welcome multiple view points. BTW Bill O'Reilly's a moron. And I'm tired of people screwing with history to try to make a point. History, left alone, proves the point that dictators should not be appeased! That does not mean, however, you have to act like an infant. Good move President Obama.
You no more have a free speech RIGHT to post on a private message board than I do to put up a billboard in YOUR front yard.
One guess as to what Keith Olbermann wil have on the "Worst Persons in the World" segment tonight.
Bill O- Tonights WORST Person in the World.
Bear in mind that O'Reilly is the same guy who exhonerates Nixon as a victim of his own inner circle whenever Watergate comes up.
I think Billo also finds Mussolini to be a nice guy Hitler led astray.
SOP for wingnuts: when history is not on your side, rewrite it.
What a dishonest buch of liberal fools you all are...You can clearly hear Bill O'Reilly say, Mao was not the problem." which then Scarecrow man responds to. Thank God that we conservatives exist to balance out the deficiencies made to the gene pool by uneducated, and mortly intellectual dishonest liberals like those of you here.
Let me introduce you to my friend. He is known as REALITY. Dont let too much in too fast it might be a shock to your system but try a bit more then more and some day you MIGHT be able to recognize him when you see him. You guys really do live in your own little world and it is a shame that they let you vote in ours.
He must have been Dana Perrino's classmate.
"Hey! Bill! What'sa difference between the Bay of Pigs and the Cuban Missile Crisis?"
"You know, I'd like to just take the falafel and..."
"Never mind, I'll wing it."
Knew it. Direct hit, Keith.
Has anyone out there checked the FOX web site to see if they have scrubbed the transcript as they do everytime this guy stumbles over his own stupidity.
Worse than Nixon shaking hands with Mao, I have an archival photo of Nixon shaking hands with the anti-christ Fidel Castro. Bill is certain that it's not Fidel but rather Raul. It's Fidel.
Let's just all agree that Bill-O is a douchbag!
Enough said!
Well that is the point...like the crazed opinionmakers at MSNBC, Media Matters is afraid of intellectual debate and censors opinions, or creates fiction from fact, serving to brainwashing the multitudes of uneducated persons spawning across America.