After Being Blasted By Reagan's Secretary Of State, O'Reilly Lashes Out At “Liberal Press”

Written by Media Matters Staff

Published

Fox News host Bill O'Reilly devoted an entire segment of The O'Reilly Factor to attack critics of his book Killing Reagan. O'Reilly lashed out at former Secretary of State under Ronald Reagan, George Shultz for his recent op-ed in The New York Times. Shultz criticized O'Reilly's depiction of President Ronald Reagan writing that the Reagan in his book “bears no resemblance to the man [Schultz] knew and worked so closely with for years.” O'Reilly has previously been criticized by Fox contributor George Will who called the book “nonsensical history and execrable citizenship” in a Washington Post column.  From the December 8 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

BILL O'REILLY (HOST): So what is really going on here? First of all, the high profile attacks on the book are coming from a close knit group of people all of whom know each other. It's coordinated. They object to any reportage that does not play into the deification of Ronald Reagan. In George Shultz' case he doesn't even seem to understand what the book's all about. Lamenting that we did not write about arms reduction, for example. It's obvious to anyone who even reads the book jacket that Killing Reagan is not, not a biography. It's a personal story of a brave man who overcame a devastating trauma to become one of our greatest presidents. You think that would please the Reagan zealots, but it doesn't. Because we write about a real man, not somebody from Mount Olympus. Ronald Reagan once tried to join the Communist Party. Did things as an actor he was not proud of. Had regrets. In short, he had flaws like we all do. How he overcame them is the heart of the book. The first wave of attacks on killing Reagan were printed in the Washington Post whose publisher has a relationship with the hatchet men who wrote the articles and who is actually a fundraiser for an arm of the Reagan library. Of course none of that was disclosed by the Washington Post. And when Martin Dugard and I asked for op-ed space to reply, the Post to its shame said no. The latest slam appears in The New York Times, which up until this point has totally ignored Killing Reagan even though it is a massive best seller that dominates its own best seller list. That's not unusual as the Times usually deep sixes authors it does not agree with ideologically. Earlier this year it denied Ted Cruz his rightful place on the best seller list and the paper is presently ignoring the sales of David Limbaugh's new book. It's beyond question that the liberal press and the literary establishment both despise the fact that the killing series is now dominating the history industry. 

Related:

Bill O'Reilly Makes A Mess Of History

Previously:

George Will Continues His Attacks On Bill O'Reilly And Killing Reagan

“You're A Hack”: Fox's Bill O'Reilly And George Will Spar Over Killing Reagan

“Garbage, Total B.S.”: Reagan Aides And Biographers Blast Chronic Fabricator Bill O'Reilly Over New Book