On the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Tucker, host Tucker Carlson wondered if Fox News host Bill O'Reilly “is attempting to blame” 18-year-old Jennifer Moore because of what she was wearing when she was raped and murdered. As Media Matters for America noted, on the August 2 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, O'Reilly appeared to suggest that the clothing Moore was wearing on the night of her death helped incite her killer. O'Reilly discussed several factors that contributed to the “moronic” girl's rape and murder, including that she was drunk and wandering the streets of New York City alone late at night. In addition, he stated: “She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning.” Tucker's colleague, Keith Olbermann, honored O'Reilly with his nightly “Worst Person in the World” award for the same comments on the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann.
On Tucker, Carlson highlighted O'Reilly's comments, saying: “So, she's got a halter top with a bare midriff and she's drunk; therefore, she gets raped and murdered, as if that's natural? That's what happens when you've got a bare midriff and you're loaded? Not in my America, buddy.” Carlson then blasted O'Reilly for his “pretty low standards,” adding, “I don't know if O'Reilly is attempting to blame her for luring this guy in.” Carlson concluded: “You ought to be able to wear whatever you want on our streets and not get raped and murdered. Period.”
Olbermann, who has repeatedly given O'Reilly the “Worst Person” award, called him a “sick, sorry excuse for a human being.”
From the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Tucker:
CARLSON: Welcome back. Time now for “Beat the Press.” First up, Fox's Bill O'Reilly. On his radio show last week, O'Reilly discussed the rape and murder of 18-year-old Jennifer Moore. See if you can tell who he thinks is responsible for the killing of that New Jersey girl. Here he is.
O'REILLY [clip]: She was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now, again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning. She's walking by herself on the West Side Highway, and she gets picked up by a thug. All right. Now she's out of her mind, drunk.
CARLSON: So, she's got a halter top with a bare midriff and she's drunk; therefore, she gets raped and murdered, as if that's natural? That's what happens when you've got a bare midriff and you're loaded? Not in my America, buddy.
Pretty low standards. I mean, I don't know if O'Reilly is attempting to blame her for luring this guy in or what, but the fact is, it's sick all the way around. You ought to be able to wear whatever you want on our streets and not get raped and murdered. Period.
From the August 7 edition of MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann:
OLBERMANN: But our winner, another notch in his infamous belt tonight, sadly this is not funny in the slightest. Talking about the 18-year-old girl abducted from New York's West Side Highway, later brutally raped and murdered about two weeks ago. O'Reilly's version of it, quote: “These two girls come in from the suburbs and they get bombed and their car is towed because they're moronic girls. Now Moore -- Jennifer Moore, 18, on her way to college, she was 5-foot-2, 105 pounds, wearing a miniskirt and a halter top with a bare midriff. Now again, there you go. So every predator in the world is gonna pick that up at 2 in the morning.” End quote.
You sick, sorry excuse for a human being. Bill O'Reilly: today's “Worst Person in the World.”