The O'Reilly Factor host challenged his Democratic guests to think “of any far-right people who have shouted down, demanded people be fired, boycott somebody to shut them up.” In fact, O'Reilly himself is no stranger to “shoutdowns” and calls for boycotts of his political opponents to silence them.
O'Reilly offered to spotlight “any far-right people who have shouted down” or called for a “boycott [of] somebody to shut them up”
Written by Joe Brown
Published
On the December 5 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly told two Democratic guests: "[I]f you guys can think ... of any far-right people who have shouted down, demanded people be fired, boycott somebody to shut them up, please let me know and we'll put it on tomorrow." His request came at the end of a segment that focused on the heckling of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) by anti-war protesters during a December 3 speech in Chicago. O'Reilly cited the incident as evidence that progressives, not conservatives, want to curtail the free speech of those with whom they disagree.
In fact, O'Reilly himself is no stranger to “shoutdowns” and calls for boycotts of his political opponents to silence them. During a panel at the May 31, 2003, BookExpo America in Los Angeles, O'Reilly exploded (Windows Media / QuickTime) at liberal satirist and author Al Franken, whose book Lies and the Lying Liars That Tell Them: A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right (Dutton Adult, 2003) was highly critical of the Fox News host. O'Reilly interrupted Franken and repeatedly told him to “shut up.” (Slate.com has compiled a long list of instances in which O'Reilly has used this phrase.) Media Matters for America has also documented O'Reilly's pattern of cutting off O'Reilly Factor guests' microphones when he disagrees with what they are saying. Additionally, O'Reilly has recently called for a boycott of the New York Daily News, the St. Petersburg Times, and MSNBC for allegedly helping to “distribute defamation and false information supplied by far left websites.” O'Reilly's website states: “In the months to come, we expect to add more names to this list.”
From the December 5 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, which featured Democratic strategist Mary Anne Marsh and Democratic consultant Kirsten Powers, both Fox News political analysts:
O'REILLY: Can you can give me --
MARSH: Yes, I can: Jack Murtha.
O'REILLY: -- one example of a far-right shoutdown? Go.
MARSH: What -- [Rep.] Jack Murtha [D-PA] being attacked on the floor of Congress by the Republicans, especially Congressman Jean Schmidt [R-OH].
O'REILLY: It wasn't a shoutdown. It was an opinion --
MARSH: Oh, it abso --
O'REILLY: -- by an elected representative. Mr. Murtha was not interrupted in his discourse. Can you, Mary Anne, give me one example of a far-right shoutdown? Go.
MARSH: That is, Bill.
O'REILLY: No.
MARSH: We disagree on who was shouting to whom, but the fact is --
O'REILLY: Wait, Kirsten is stepping up to the -- no, Mary Anne.
MARSH: I'll give you an example.
O'REILLY: With all due respect, that is not an example. That was one congressman disagreeing with another. It wasn't a shoutdown.
[...]
O'REILLY: If you guys -- if you guys can think maybe later on this evening, in a moment of leisure, of any far-right people who have shouted down, demanded people be fired, boycott somebody to shut them up, please let me know, and we'll put it on tomorrow.