On the January 8 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, Newsweek senior editor Jonathan Alter compared Fox News' Bill O'Reilly to a “blimp ... balloon in one of those parades,” adding that O'Reilly is “so full of himself” and is “so inflated, it's coming out of his ears.” Host Tucker Carlson had asked his guests what they thought “of the meltdown occurring in public of Bill O'Reilly,” saying that MSNBC's Keith Olbermann, host of Countdown, “has set out to drive Bill O'Reilly crazy, and apparently he's succeeded.” Carlson also stated that he is “not a huge fan of the [Fox] network -- but some of [the people that work there] are decent, and some of them are -- actually are intelligent.” Tucker's other guest, retired Col. Jack Jacobs, concluded of O'Reilly's flagging ratings that “there's a finite life to everything.”
As Media Matters for America has noted, O'Reilly has recently taken to attacking NBC and MSNBC for what he perceived to be “Bush-hat[ing]” and “irresponsible” reporting of Saddam Hussein's execution. For instance, on the January 3 broadcast of his television show, O'Reilly asserted that “NBC News led the way” among the “Bush-hat[ing]” media because “elements over there” were “calling the execution a PR disaster for the USA.” O'Reilly's remarks drew a response from MSNBC's Joe Scarborough, a self-described conservative and host of MSNBC's Scarborough Country, who, on the January 4 edition of his show, asserted that O'Reilly was “way off base on MSNBC, on NBC, and certainly on me. And I challenge you to debate me anytime, anyplace, anywhere.” Scarborough also suggested that O'Reilly is “a suck-up.”
On the January 4 editions of both his television and radio shows, O'Reilly continued to attack NBC News' coverage of Saddam's execution. On his radio show, O'Reilly asserted that "[t]hey are an activist network now. They hate Bush across the board. They hate him. Their White House correspondent, David Gregory, hates him. The Today show hates him. The Nightly hates him. Everybody hates him, across the board." On his television program, Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly stated that he was “disturbed by” NBC's reporting “because I don't believe it's honest. I believe it's a calculated decision to attack people in the hopes of getting viewers, which is sleazy to say the least.”
Additionally, on The O'Reilly Factor, O'Reilly falsely claimed, “There isn't one conservative ... not one conservative commentator that works for NBC News at this time.” In fact, at least two MSNBC hosts -- Scarborough, a former Republican member of Congress from Florida, and Carlson -- identify themselves as conservatives.
From the January 8 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:
CARLSON: Now, I wonder what you make of the meltdown occurring in public of Bill O'Reilly. I wanna play you a clip. This is an interview that he did with NBC's [chief foreign affairs correspondent] Andrea Mitchell. It comes after a number of years of needling from Keith Olbermann. Keith Olbermann has set out to drive Bill O'Reilly crazy, and apparently he's succeeded. Take a look at this clip.
O'REILLY [video clip]: You're entitled to your public and private beliefs. You are, and I don't have any quibble with that, but if it's all one way, if it's all of them across the board, then I'm saying, “Where's the diversity?”
CARLSON: So, Andrea Mitchell goes on -- that doesn't quite capture the intensity of this interview -- she goes on his show to sell her book, and right in the middle of it, he starts going crazy about “NBC News is bad.” Here's my question to you: If year after year, you're being needled, right -- so Keith Olbermann is trying to get under his skin -- aren't you wise to resist and try to ignore it and not take the bait?
JACOBS: Well, it depends on what you're after. If you're after the people standing around a watercooler saying that you, Bill O'Reilly, are really a cool guy, and you're even-tempered and intelligent and all the rest of that stuff, well, of course you hold back. But, at the end of the day, if what you're after is viewers, then you go by the old adage that says any publicity is good publicity, and the more of a lunatic you act like, the greater the likelihood is that people will be watching you next time around. So there's a little bit of showmanship in all of this.
ALTER: He's got a book out --
CARLSON: No, I think that's right --
ALTER: Tucker --
CARLSON: -- but I think, in the end, it helps MSNBC. I think Bill O'Reilly has helped this network quite a bit.
ALTER: Yeah.
CARLSON: Jonathan Alter, don't you? And why -- why don't the people at Fox, who are very smart, and some of them -- now, I'm not a huge fan of the network -- but some of them are decent, and some of them are-- actually are intelligent people. Why don't they say to Bill O'Reilly, “Stop, don't respond”?
ALTER: They can't. They can't. They tried to say that to him, Tucker, when he sued [Air America Radio host] Al Franken. Do you remember that whole thing? He said -- they said to him, “You've got no case, Bill. Don't sue. It just gives Al Franken publicity.” He wouldn't listen. He's like the Macy's Day, you know, blimp -- balloon in one of those parades. He's so full of himself. He's so inflated, it's coming out of his ears. He's so full of it that they can't possibly, you know, bring him down to earth.
JACOBS: You know, this has developed --
ALTER: So, he's gonna do this, and it's gonna help Keith. I think it's great for Countdown. It's great for MSNBC. He keeps feeding it, his numbers keep going down, Keith's numbers keep going up. Status quo's great for MSNBC.
JACOBS: You know, this has developed over a period of time. It's developed over a period of time. When O'Reilly first popped on at Fox, I think it was 18 months to three years before he had any ratings that were larger than those that are usually reserved for watching a test pattern. [Fox News chairman and CEO] Roger Ailes stuck with him because he thought eventually the bombast would take hold. It did, but, you know, there's a finite life to everything, and it is great news for Keith and for MSNBC.
CARLSON: Yeah, and I think for the American people.