Olbermann on O'Reilly: “Why does [he] still have a job?”

Written by Matthew Biedlingmaier

Published

On the January 18 edition of MSNBC's Countdown, host Keith Olbermann attacked Fox News host Bill O'Reilly for comments he made regarding the kidnapping of Shawn Hornbeck -- who was abducted in October 2002, held for four years, and recently found in Missouri. As Media Matters for America documented, on the January 15 edition of his television show, O'Reilly said: “The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents. He didn't have to go to school. He could run around and do whatever he wanted,” later stating, “There was an element here that this kid liked about his circumstances.” The following day, as Media Matters also noted, O'Reilly addressed the criticism surrounding his comments by saying: “I made no awful remarks ... just asked questions.”

On Countdown, Olbermann said of O'Reilly: “It boggles the mind that, in 2007, a public figure can still blame the victim -- a victim who is a teenage boy -- and not lose his job over it.” He later added: “We've all gotten a lot of amusement from Mr. O'Reilly's baseline idiocy, but this is reprehensible. It reeks of perversity and inhumanity. Simply put, Mr. O'Reilly no longer deserves any place on the public stage.”

From the January 18 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:

OLBERMANN: And as a commentator insists, a second victim did not escape because he was having a lot more fun than he did at home. That boy's parents reveal they believe their son was sexually abused. Why does the commentator still have a job?

[...]

OLBERMANN: It boggles the mind that, in 2007, a public figure can still blame the victim -- a victim who is a teenage boy -- and not lose his job over it. But Bill O'Reilly has told his audience that Shawn Hornbeck, abducted at age 11, more than four years ago -- rescued just a week ago -- never escaped because he didn't want to.

“The situation here for this kid looks to me to be a lot more fun than what he had under his old parents,” O'Reilly said. “He didn't have to go to school; he could run around and do whatever he wanted.” A lot more fun indeed -- like suffering sexual abuse at the hands of his kidnapper as Shawn Hornbeck's parents today said they believed happened.

We've all gotten a lot of amusement from Mr. O'Reilly's baseline idiocy, but this is reprehensible. It reeks of perversity and inhumanity. Simply put, Mr. O'Reilly no longer deserves any place on the public stage.