BRET BAIER (GUEST HOST): Gingrich later clarified his comments today, saying he wasn't referring to any US citizens, or to any Muslims who are loyal to the United States. All this on a day in which presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump made it official, naming Indiana governor Mike Pence as his running mate. With this reaction to all of this on the phone is Bill O'Reilly. Hi, Bill.



BILL O'REILLY: Thanks for sitting in for me Bret.



BAIER: You got it. What about this, Gingrich and the response from President Obama?



O'REILLY: I think the speaker overdid it a little bit, because, you know I always go back to the fact that you can't single out any religion under our Constitution for scrutiny. So I -- you know, the sentiment is correct, I mean, Sharia law is not compatible with the United States, and the constitutional freedoms that we have, alright? We all know that.



But we have tolerated in this country communism, fascism, we have tolerated all of that, and I don't think you can basically say well, we are going to give every Muslim a test, to see if the Muslim passes the test.



And then it gets political. I think President Obama distorted the remarks and tried to, you know -- he obviously knows that Gingrich is part of the Trump campaign, and part of the Democratic strategy is to demonize Trump as this guy who is going to come after minorities, Muslims, Mexicans, gays, whoever it may be. So, I didn't like either the speaker's remarks or the president's remarks.

Previously:



On Fox, Newt Gingrich Calls For Testing Everyone Of A “Muslim Background” In The US For Sharia Beliefs



Fox News' Jeanine Pirro: “Newt [Gingrich] Is Right ” On Religious Test For U.S. Muslims



Conservatives Ridicule Gingrich’s “Kooky” And “Embarrassing” Plan To Test American Muslims’ Faith



Muslim Columnist Slams Newt Gingrich's “Ignorance” In Wake Of Nice Attack