Fox News media analyst Bernie Goldberg criticized the channel on Monday night for elevating Nevada rancher Cliven Bundy to a “folk hero” during his armed standoff with the federal government last year.
“Some people on this channel, they tried to turn this yahoo rancher from Nevada into an American folk hero simply because he was against the federal government and so were they,” Goldberg said during an appearance on the Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor.”
Host Bill O’Reilly defended himself by saying that he declined to cover the story. O’Reilly said at first the situation appeared to be about “a guy who was being oppressed” and that he didn’t blame his colleagues “who dove in because it was presented that way.”
“No, hold on, Bill,” Goldberg said. “The reason that certain people turned this guy or tried to turn him into a hero is because he was against the federal government, and they know that their audience also detests the federal government.”
“Pandering to the audience is not a good thing, even if it’s good for ratings,” Goldberg said.
Goldberg made the remarks just days after he argued with O’Reilly by saying on air that “Fox News is gonna play down conservative screw-ups.”
Watch below via Fox News:
h/t Media Matters
