Bill O’Reilly: ‘Not My Job’ To Defend Megyn Kelly From Trump Attacks

Bill O'ReillyWhite House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassador in Washington DC (Rex Features via AP Images)
Bill O'Reilly White House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011 the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassa... Bill O'Reilly White House Correspondent's Dinner after party, Washington DC, America - 30 Apr 2011 the White House Correspondents' Association Dinner (WHCD) after party was held at the residence of the French Ambassador in Washington DC (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly doesn’t think it was his “job” to defend his colleague Megyn Kelly from a barrage of attacks by presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump.

“It was not my job to intrude on the Fox News Channel hierarchy, which was handling the controversy,” O’Reilly said in a Q&A with the Hollywood Reporter published Wednesday. “Why am I going to get in the middle of that? [Chairman] Roger Ailes is a genius at handling this stuff. I am not going to make his life harder by putting my big mouth in the middle of this thing.”

Kelly said in March that she wished O’Reilly had come to her defense when Trump went after her during the GOP primary race. The real estate mogul claimed he had “zero respect” for Kelly while appearing on “The O’Reilly Factor” in January, soon after dropping out of a Fox News-hosted debate because Kelly was moderating.

“I do wish that O’Reilly had defended me more in his interview with Trump. I would have defended him more,” Kelly told More Magazine.

Trump, who had spent months calling Kelly a “bimbo,” accelerated his attacks after Kelly’s interview with More was published, tweeting that she was “crazy” and “highly overrated.”

The two have since made up. In May, Kelly sat down with Trump for a 20-minute special that aired on Fox broadcasting and was widely panned as a softball interview.

As O’Reilly told the Hollywood Reporter, “Megyn’s come out of it fine. Big star and doing well.”

Latest Livewire
30
Show Comments

Notable Replies

  1. Bill O’Reilly: “Be helpful and reasonable? Why start now?”

  2. Avatar for lew lew says:

    Bill continued, “No, it’s not my job to defend Megyn–my plans for her involve a loofah and some serious shower time.”

  3. Bill was busy on the front lines against ISIS with Elvis…

  4. Avatar for grack grack says:

    That’s an old reference though. At this point his plans probably include having her change his diaper and feed him applesauce.

Continue the discussion at forums.talkingpointsmemo.com

24 more replies

Participants

Avatar for system1 Avatar for victorabrahamsen Avatar for robb_ludwig Avatar for silas1898 Avatar for sysprog Avatar for lew Avatar for manhattan123 Avatar for commiedearest Avatar for mantan Avatar for ralph_vonholst Avatar for borisjimbo Avatar for arc_of_the_universe Avatar for theghostofeustacetilley Avatar for candirue Avatar for careysub Avatar for fiftygigs Avatar for darrtown Avatar for cincypix Avatar for boisdevache Avatar for jacksonhts Avatar for wjl Avatar for grack Avatar for burdyblue Avatar for willycrashd

Continue Discussion
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Deputy Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: