After presumptive GOP nominee Donald Trump posted a video that juxtaposed rape allegations against Bill Clinton with a photo of the former President chomping a cigar, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly warned Trump Monday night to back off that line of attack.
Calling the Instagram video “kind of tawdry stuff,” O’Reilly told Trump, “I’m not sure that this is a good thing…to do that” before trailing off.
“Well, I’m only responding to what they do. She’s been very nasty, and I said I’d like it to be on policy, straight down the middle,” he said before trumpeting recent poll numbers.
O’Reilly interrupted to say “every human being on earth” saw those poll numbers.
“I understand what you are trying to do here is inhibit Mrs. Clinton from attacking you personally by saying, ‘if you play that game, then can I come back 10 times harder.’ I understand that,” the “O’Reilly Factor” host said.
He continued: “But you know that it makes the country look bad abroad and things like that. That’s what worries me. I understand the Clinton attack machine. I got it, and I think it has to be dealt with somewhat. But I think maybe caution.”
Trump replied he has no choice but to hit back when dealing with the Clintons, who he called “dirty players.”
The real estate mogul is no stranger to conspiracy theories. In an interview published Monday, he brought up lingering rumors that the Clintons were involved in the death of White House staffer Vince Foster, whose death was ruled a suicide.
Before Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) left the presidential race, Trump floated the conspiracy theory that Cruz’s father was linked to Lee Harvey Oswald before the assassination of President John F. Kennedy. In 2011, Trump became a leading figure in the movement calling for President Obama to release his birth certificate to prove he was born in the United States.
Man, Trump’s week started out with a bang—Bill O’Reilly and the North Koreans both telling him to show some restraint, be more judicious, have a bit of dignity, that’s got to be a new record.
When you’re too tawdry for O’Reilly, you’ve fallen off the edge of the Earth.
Now if Bill O’Reilly had suggested that maybe he lay off of some of the tawny bronzer.
Exactly, when Bill O. emerges as the voice of reason, you’ve strayed way over the border into CrazyLand.
The right wing remains terrified that Trump will ruin the GOP. The fear is real. When people, not just GOP primary voters, begin to focus on Trump’s temperament, and his rhetoric about using nuclear weapons, the GOP will be in trouble.