O'Reilly on Romney: “He's got the jaw going on, the little gray thing in there. And I think that means a lot in America”

Written by Matt Gertz

Published

On the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said: "[Y]ou can't get more presidential-looking than [former Massachusetts Gov.] Mitt Romney [R]." O'Reilly continued: "[I]f you were to make up a guy, this would be the guy, you know, that looks presidential. He's got the jaw going on, the little gray thing in there." O'Reilly concluded that Romney's “presidential” looks bode well for his electoral prospects, saying, “I think that means a lot in America.”

As Media Matters for America has documented, numerous other media figures have praised Romney's appearance or asserted that he looks like a president, including Republican pollster Frank Luntz, Newsweek senior writer and political correspondent Jonathan Darman and assistant managing editor Evan Thomas, MSNBC host Chris Matthews, Politico chief political columnist Roger Simon, former Time magazine White House correspondent (now chief political correspondent for The Politico) Mike Allen, NBC Today co-host Matt Lauer, and NBC News Washington bureau chief Tim Russert.

From the May 30 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: But he's got a very -- how important in this world is Romney's appearance? Which, I mean, you can't get more presidential looking than Mitt Romney.

I mean, look, if you were to make up a guy, this would be the guy, you know, that looks presidential. He's got the jaw going on, the little gray thing in there. And I think that means a lot in America.

DENNIS MILLER (comedian): Well, I do, too. But when you back it up with the fact that he's competent, too. He ran a pretty tight Olympics. And you know, this is the guy who invented Staples. And I think he understands a step-by-step business plan. And I think the Staples thing is going to come out as adversaries best keep their head up, because it will be death by a thousand paper cuts with Romney. It will be a very --

O'REILLY: Staples, the Staples department store? Is that what you're saying?

MILLER: Staples office stores. I think --

O'REILLY: Yeah, the office stores.

MILLER: Romney was there at the beginning of that.

O'REILLY: Mm-hmm. OK.

MILLER: So, I mean, he's as pretty savvy guy. Not only does he look good. He's good at what he does.