While discussing Sen. Barack Obama's March 18 speech about race on the March 19 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, Bill O'Reilly called the “people” at Media Matters for America “the worst Americans in the country” and stated, “If I could, I would deport them.” O'Reilly also asserted: “But this Media Matters, this disgusting, despicable, far-left website, they do it all the time. And MoveOn and all these people, that's what they do. They disagree with you, and they brand you a racist.” O'Reilly also attacked Media Matters during the March 19 edition of his Fox News television program, The O'Reilly Factor.

During the radio show, O'Reilly said: “Now, I'm an idiot, because I do [discuss race]. But I have to be honest. After I got accused of being a racist, when I went to up to Harlem to have dinner with [Rev.] Al Sharpton, when I was doing, as all of you know, a rant against racism, they turned it around, and nobody even listened to it, and they called me a racist. After that, forget it. I'm not going to do that ever again.” O'Reilly's statements referred to criticism he received over his comments on the September 19, 2007, edition of his radio program discussing a meal he had with Sharpton at Sylvia's, a famous restaurant in Harlem -- which Media Matters documented, providing relevant audio and transcript. O'Reilly stated that he “had a great time, and all the people up there are tremendously respectful,” adding: “I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship.” Later, during a discussion with National Public Radio senior correspondent and Fox News contributor Juan Williams about the effect of rap on culture, O'Reilly asserted: “There wasn't one person in Sylvia's who was screaming, 'M-Fer, I want more iced tea.' You know, I mean, everybody was -- it was like going into an Italian restaurant in an all-white suburb in the sense of people were sitting there, and they were ordering and having fun. And there wasn't any kind of craziness at all.” O'Reilly also stated: “I think black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves. They're getting away from the Sharptons and the [Rev. Jesse] Jacksons and the people trying to lead them into a race-based culture. They're just trying to figure it out. 'Look, I can make it. If I work hard and get educated, I can make it.' ”

Also during the March 19 radio show, co-host Lis Wiehl said: “But I'm still hung up on what you said earlier. The -- can I quote you again? 'I'm an idiot.' ” O'Reilly responded:

Look, I tried to do it. If you read Culture Warrior, I've got a whole chapter on it, the minority report. And I -- but I should have been smarter about it. I mean, I set myself up for these far-left liars when I came on the radio and did this discussion that were -- my grandmother didn't like black people but never knew a black person. Now, you had to listen to the whole thing. And you knew that I was speaking against racism, and these people at Media Matters -- these are the worst Americans in the country. There are no worse Americans than this. If I could, I would deport them. All right? And they turned it around. And then instead of listening to the conversation, which we had posted everywhere -- you could have listened to the entire thing -- the press ran out -- because the press would like to destroy me. And then I had to sit there and watch this garbage. You know, it was awful. But that's what happened. And then I said, “Uh-uh. No more. Not going to do it again.” And I won't.

Wiehl then interjected: "[Y]our deportation comment-- you're going to be anti-immigrant now." O'Reilly replied: “No. I want Media Matters deported. And if anybody can work that -- if Barack Obama can work that -- I'm voting for him. OK? Any of the presidential candidates who can deport those swine -- I'm voting for them.”

O'Reilly also attacked Media Matters while discussing Obama's speech on the on the March 19 edition of The O'Reilly Factor, saying: “Many white Americans understand that any disagreement with a person of color could get you branded a racist. People like Jesse Jackson and far-left smear machines like Media Matters make livings off race-baiting.”

Later during the television program, while addressing what he called the “reaction to the call for race discussion,” O'Reilly said to Fox News analyst and radio talk-show host Laura Ingraham: “I did two hours on this on the radio. And I guess it's come up with you. But you know, many white Americans are still -- we're not going to even discuss this because any mistake is going to lead to what we talked about being branded a racist. So, I mean, how does Barack Obama think we're ever going to get any kind of detente here?” Ingraham responded: “Yeah, there's something I'm doing wrong here. Look, what I think is going on here is beyond the headline of 'U.S. of KKK' and all of that, we have a deeply anti-American movement growing worldwide, right? With the far-left radicals worldwide -- and it -- there's a strain of it, as you talk about almost every night, here in the United States. It's MoveOn.org, it's Media Matters, all these organizations. The General 'Betray Us' ad and all that.”

Later during the discussion, Ingraham asserted that “the left is obsessed with race.” O'Reilly responded: “But they use it as a club. But the left doesn't want good race relations. They want to hurt Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly. The left doesn't want good race relations. They want to use it as a club.” Ingraham then said: “Improved race relations, sadly, hurts the careers of people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and maybe even Reverend Wright, OK? That's the sad fact of what happens when you foment this type of anti-American, deeply suspicious of anyone who's not the same color skin that you have. I thought that's what we were trying to get beyond.”

From the March 19 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: Hi, I'm Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for watching us tonight. Race in America, starring Barack Obama and Jesse Jackson -- that is the subject of this evening's “Talking Points Memo.”

Senator Obama was at his most eloquent yesterday when he said this.

OBAMA [video clip]: The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through, a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect.

O'REILLY: Absolutely true. And Americans can only work those problems out if blacks and whites talk to each other. But that will not happen, ladies and gentlemen, until bogus claims of racism become cardinal sins. Many white Americans understand that any disagreement with a person of color could get you branded a racist. People like Jesse Jackson and far-left smear machines like Media Matters make livings off race-baiting.

Here's a partial list of people branded with a racist label by Reverend Jackson: President Bush, President Bush the elder, Newt Gingrich, Gary Hart, Ronald Reagan, Trent Lott, Vicente Fox, Jeb Bush, and Menachem Begin.

Here's a partial list of people's race smeared by Media Matters: Alan Colmes, Glenn Beck, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, Michelle Malkin, Neil Cavuto, Neal Boortz, Michael Smerconish, Fred Barnes, Sean Hannity, Bo Dietl, and John Gibson.

“Talking Points” is simply fed up with this and is curious to know whether Senator Obama understands that race-baiters on the left are interfering with constructive dialogue. Obama mentioned conservative race people in his speech yesterday, but by far, the worst offenders are Jackson and Media Matters, both dedicated leftists.

So far, Reverend Jackson has been silent about the Reverend Wright controversy, so Fox News producer Griff Jenkins asked him about it at the far-left Take Back America convention in D.C.

[begin video clip]

GRIFF JENKINS (Fox News producer): So reverend, do you condemn Reverend Wright's words? I mean, six days after 9-11, he talked about our chickens are coming home to roost.

JACKSON: I'm really not going to address any of that now, frankly, because I think to feed into it is to expand it. And I'm struggling, as others are, to put the focus on the war, a focus on the economic collapse, a focus on poverty, which is crippling and growing, a focus on the impact of the health insurance crisis for working people.

JENKINS: But we can't deny the controversy it's caused.

JACKSON: Well, indeed it is.

JENKINS: Do you condemn Reverend Wright's comments?

JACKSON: But you do have a choice as to what you're going to speak to and what your priorities are. And you'll hear my priorities today. Thank you very much.

JENKINS: So you won't condemn Reverend Wright's comments?

[end video clip]

[...]

O'REILLY: Bottom line is Senator Obama must understand that many white Americans will not engage in race discussions because they fear making a mistake and being called a racist. That is undeniable. And if you still don't buy it, just give liberal icon Geraldine Ferraro a call. And that's the memo.

Now for the top story tonight, reaction to the call for race discussion. Joining us from Washington, Fox News analyst and radio talk-show star Laura Ingraham. I did two hours on this on the radio. And I guess it's come up with you. But you know, many white Americans are still -- we're not going to even discuss this because any mistake is going to lead to what we talked about being branded a racist. So, I mean, how does Barack Obama think we're ever going to get any kind of detente here?

INGRAHAM: Well, first of all, Bill, I'm really upset that I didn't make the Jackson list, because all of you guys, all my friends made it and I clearly didn't make it.

O'REILLY: Well, you will after tonight.

INGRAHAM: Yeah, there's something I'm doing wrong here. Look, what I think is going on here is beyond the headline of “U.S. of KKK” and all of that, we have a deeply anti-American movement growing worldwide, right? With the far-left radicals worldwide -- and it -- there's a strain of it, as you talk about almost every night, here in the United States. It's MoveOn.org, it's Media Matters, all these organizations. The General “Betray Us” ad and all that.

And you saw that also in a different form at that pulpit at the Trinity United Church with the type of language about America that doesn't engender a sense of loving America, or loving her and protecting her, wanting her to grow and wanting people to come together. Instead, it's a divisive kind of rhetoric that I think scares people, Bill.

I think people are terrified by people like Reverend Wright. And I'm sure he's done some good things in his life. And I'm sure he's an affable guy, and he's an interesting guy. But I think a lot of people are just afraid at this point. And I think you're right. How are we going to get beyond this if we can't even talk about it?

O'REILLY: OK. And I think that's a good analysis, that there is a lot of fear in the air. Because look, the guy that confronted Griff Jenkins, our producer that you just saw, he was totally out of control. This was a far-left nut. Didn't matter whether he was black or white, didn't matter. The guy was just out of control. Reverend Wright was out of control in what he was saying.

Now Barack Obama -- see, I don't under -- I don't know whether Barack Obama understands what you just said, that there are a lot of Americans of all colors, but particularly white Americans who fear the far left because Barack Obama has not come out. And he distanced himself from the comments of Reverend Wright, he did. And he did it very clearly. But he's not come out and defined it any further than that. I don't know if he understands the fear in white America, vis-a-vis the race issue. I just don't know.

INGRAHAM: Well, and I think that the next question, the logical question that I had hoped that he would get into during his speech is, if these feelings are out there -- and they obviously are and apparently they're quite prevalent at some churches -- if those feelings are out there, is fomenting this stuff from the pulpit and putting this out there, U.S. government injecting people with the AIDS virus, traveling to Libya with Farrakhan to meet Qadafi, all this stuff, is that helpful to black America, Bill? Is that helpful to any Americans? To --

O'REILLY: Well, it hasn't been helpful to Barack Obama.

INGRAHAM: No, but I think --

O'REILLY: I mean, Barack Obama's candidacy is now on the rocks.

INGRAHAM: Right, but the larger question --

O'REILLY: Now, he could come back.

INGRAHAM: Right.

O'REILLY: He could come back.

INGRAHAM: And I think the --

O'REILLY: Go ahead, go ahead.

INGRAHAM: Yeah, I think the larger question, though, is beyond Barack Obama. This may sink him; he may be able to skate past it because the media doesn't really want to stay on this issue, the mainstream media.

But I think the larger question, Bill, that Barack Obama should address, is this kind of hatred toward America and this distrust, this basic distrust of America in holding onto these sins of the past with this angst and anxiety and anger. Is that helping people advance in their businesses --

O'REILLY: Well, but I think that's an easy one for Barack Obama --

INGRAHAM: -- in their personal lives, period?

O'REILLY: -- to hit it out of the park. And I think he did address it.

INGRAHAM: Well --

O'REILLY: And he said --

INGRAHAM: No, I don't think he did at all.

O'REILLY: No, he did. And here's how he did it. He said that Wright's comments were erroneous because Wright had an obsolete view of the country. He doesn't believe --

INGRAHAM: Then why was he there?

O'REILLY: Well --

INGRAHAM: Why was he there day after day, week after week?

O'REILLY: -- but then you go back to judgment about --

INGRAHAM: No judgment.

O'REILLY: -- and then he says, there's a difference between public and private. And he's my private counselor.

INGRAHAM: Reconciliation.

O'REILLY: But there's a bigger picture here.

INGRAHAM: Correct.

O'REILLY: The bigger picture here. And the bigger picture is that black and white Americans now are on parallel tracks.

INGRAHAM: Well, the left is obsessed with race, though.

O'REILLY: Some have reached detente.

INGRAHAM: Yeah.

O'REILLY: Some have reached detente. But most of them --

INGRAHAM: The left is obsessed, Bill, with race. The left is absolutely obsessed with the issue.

O'REILLY: But they use it as a club. But the left doesn't want good race relations. They want to hurt Laura Ingraham and Bill O'Reilly. The left doesn't want good race relations. They want to use it as a club.

INGRAHAM: Improved race relations, sadly, hurts the careers of people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton and maybe even Reverend Wright, OK? That's the sad fact of what happens when you foment this type of anti-American, deeply suspicious of anyone who's not the same color skin that you have. I thought that's what we were trying to get beyond.

And I think Barack Obama, I think he could have really turned this into a teachable moment. And despite the eloquence of the speech, I think the images and the language used by Reverend Wright, I think that's going to stick in the craw of a lot of voters out there. And I think that's actually really sad, because I think a lot of good maybe could have been done in this speech. And I think he missed the opportunity.

O'REILLY: We'll see. All right, we got a number of other reports coming up on this, including new polling, which may bear out what Laura has to say. Laura, thanks very much.

From the March 19 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Now, race in America. Tonight, we have a confrontation with Jesse Jackson we will play you. It is fascinating. And I just want to run down, before I get into my remarks -- here is a partial list of people that Jesse Jackson has either called a racist or implied they are racist. President Bush the elder, President Bush the younger. Senator Gary Hart. Florida Governor Jeb Bush. Newt Gingrich. Mexican President Vicente Fox. Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin. Trent Lott. Don Imus. Ronald Reagan. Khallid Abdul Muhammad, the aide to Louis Farrakhan. He's a racist, too. So --

WIEHL: This is a partial list.

O'REILLY: You know, there is a black guy -- there's a black guy on there. And Jerry Falwell. And that's just a partial list.

Now, did he call Ted Turner a racist or not? It says “reportedly.” What does that mean? We can't confirm that he -- Jackson called Ted Turner a racist. All right.

So, Jackson runs around -- he's a race-baiter. He just calls everybody a racist, people he doesn't agree with. They're all racists. And that's the extreme case. But this Media Matters, this disgusting, despicable, far-left website, they do it all the time. And MoveOn and all these people, that's what they do. They disagree with you, and they brand you a racist. You don't believe me? Call up Geraldine Ferraro. Liberal icon. Poor Geraldine Ferraro. She's a racist now. You make one mistake, bang, you're a racist.

So most white -- not man-- maybe not most. Many white Americans say, “Look” -- and the polls show this -- “I want good things for my black countrymen, people of color. I do. But I'm not going to get involved; I'm not going to engage. Because I don't know what to say, I may say the wrong thing, and then I'm a racist. So I'm not even going to get involved.” And believe me, Barack Obama, that is absolutely true.

You would not disagree with that, would you?

WIEHL: Absolutely not. It's obscure to talk about it.

O'REILLY: Absolutely. So, white Americans are basically going to say, “Look, you're on your own. I'm not going to talk about it with you. I mean, not going to discuss it at work, on the subway, at the game, we're not discussing it.”

Now, I'm an idiot, because I do. But I have to be honest. After I got accused of being a racist, when I went to up to Harlem to have dinner with Al Sharpton, when I was doing, as all of you know, a rant against racism, they turned it around, and nobody even listened to it, and they called me a racist. After that, forget it. I'm not going to do that ever again. No, I'll go up to Harlem and have a meal, but I'm not going to talk about it. And if I don't know you and you're a person of color and you ask me a question, I'm not going to answer it. I'm absolutely not going to answer it. Why would I? I'm not putting myself in a position where somebody can run out and say, “O'Reilly said this or” -- I'm just going to say, “Hey, have a nice day.” I'm not going to do it.

And that is a decision I had to make based upon the gross unfairness of the race-baiters in America. It is an industry, it's an industry. Jesse Jackson makes money doing it. OK? Now, we asked Jesse Jackson about Reverend Wright, because he hasn't said anything about him. Now, here -- you know, if Jesse Jackson were really interested in, you know, equality and bringing the races together and all of that, he would have had a press conference on Reverend Wright. Now, I'm going to play you that on TV. I don't want to play it on radio for you. You've got to see it. You've got to see it. Oh, man, wait till you see it tonight on the television side.

So that's my take, that Barack Obama is absolutely right, absolutely right in his contention that we need a big discussion in America, and we need to, you know, get together, because there are people who want to kill us.

Now, I've got three sound bites on Barack Obama. I'm just going to play Sound Cut Four. Roll the tape.

[begin audio clip]

OBAMA: Race is an issue that I believe this nation cannot afford to ignore right now. We would be making the same mistake that Reverend Wright made in his offending sermons about America -- to simplify and stereotype and amplify the negative to the point that it distorts reality.

The fact is that the comments that have been made and the issues that have surfaced over the last few weeks reflect the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through -- a part of our union that we have not yet made perfect.

[end audio clip]

O'REILLY: And that's -- that was just an excellent two paragraphs by Obama. Excellent. Because it's absolutely true. But unless Barack Obama and all African-Americans understand that white America -- many of us -- are not going to engage on a level that could lead to big improvements because we fear being branded racists if we make a mistake or say something that we don't mean to be offensive but is taken the wrong way, you're not going to have the conversation. You're not going to have that.

So, Barack Obama and all African-Americans need to understand that and to start distancing themselves from the hysteria surrounding Geraldine Ferraro and other controversies. Unless that happens, you're not going to get any dialogue. It's going to stay the same.

All right, is Sharpton coming on? We got his -- we don't know? Do we have him?

WIEHL: Is he here?

O'REILLY: I mean, anybody find him? He's going to call us? That could be anytime. You know Sharpton.

WIEHL: [unintelligible] But I'm still hung up on what you said earlier. The -- can I quote you again? “I'm an idiot.”

O'REILLY: Yeah, I was --

WIEHL: “I'm an idiot.”

O'REILLY: Look, I tried to do it.

WIEHL: Right.

O'REILLY: If you read Culture Warrior, I've got a whole chapter on it, the minority report. And I -- but I should have been smarter about it. I mean, I set myself up for these far-left liars when I came on the radio and did this discussion that were -- my grandmother didn't like black people but never knew a black person. Now, you had to listen to the whole thing. And you knew that I was speaking against racism, and these people at Media Matters -- these are the worst Americans in the country. There are no worse Americans than this. If I could, I would deport them. All right? And they turned it around. And then instead of listening to the conversation, which we had posted everywhere -- you could have listened to the entire thing -- the press ran out -- because the press would like to destroy me. And then I had to sit there and watch this garbage. You know, it was awful. But that's what happened. And then I said, “Uh-uh. No more. Not going to do it again.” And I won't.

WIEHL: Now, your anti-deportion [sic] comment -- your deportation comment --

O'REILLY: Well, I want --

WIEHL: -- you're going to be anti-immigrant now.

O'REILLY: No. I want Media Matters deported.

WIEHL: I know, I know, I know.

O'REILLY: And if anybody can work that -- if Barack Obama can work that --

WIEHL: Yeah?

O'REILLY: I'm voting for him.

WIEHL: There you go.

O'REILLY: OK? Any of the presidential candidates who can deport those swine --

WIEHL: You get the --

O'REILLY: I'm voting for them.

WIEHL: Voting for them.

O'REILLY: I'll be back in a moment.

[...]

O'REILLY: All right, now, it's not just blacks calling whites racist, it's white loons on the left. Media Matters -- the worst, as we pointed out -- has called the following people racist: Alan Colmes, John Gibson, Glenn Beck, Don Imus, Rush Limbaugh, Pat Buchanan, Michelle Malkin, Neil Cavuto --

WIEHL: Neil Cavuto?

O'REILLY: -- Neal Boortz, Michael Smerconish, Fred Barnes, Sean Hannity, Bo Dietl, Ann Coulter, Senator Trent Lott, and on and on and on. All conservative people.

But they -- this is a pattern of behavior, and it is despicable. But you don't hear black leaders condemning it as they should. And that is what's going to have to happen to open up racial dialogue. Going to have to get leaders like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Barack Obama to say, “Knock it off.” And if they don't, then I'm telling you, white Americans are going to say, “OK.”