Jon Stewart welcomed Bill O’Reilly to Wednesday night’s “The Daily Show” for a debate on “white privilege.”
Stewart started the conversation by requesting that O’Reilly just “admit that there is such a thing as white privilege.” In response, O’Reilly declared that if white privilege exists, then the existence of “Asian privilege” must also be acknowledged.
“You’re missing the point,” Stewart said. “The Asian immigrant experience is very different from the black experience so it’s really, they’re not equivalent. And either way white people, males, set the system.”
“Sure, that was then. This is now,” O’Reilly responded. “Maybe you haven’t figured out that there is no more slavery. No more Jim Crow. And the most powerful man in the world is a black American. And the most powerful woman in the world, Oprah Winfrey, is black.”
Stewart sighed “oh boy” throughout O’Reilly’s rant before interjecting that “being able to give people a free car does not make you the most powerful woman in the world.”
He then took a different tack to try to get a concession out of O’Reilly.
“You are carrying more of a burden as a black person in this country than a white person in this country,” Stewart said.
He provided an example of how black people are “ghettoized” through real estate and have been throughout history. That got O’Reilly to concede — almost.
“If you want to say it’s white privilege because whites didn’t have it as bad as blacks,” O’Reilly said. “Fine.”
“That’s it!” Stewart exclaimed.
“No, it’s not,” O’Reilly shouted.
“You know what I’ll call it?” Stewart said. “I’ll call it this, and it’s a word I think you’ll understand. A factor. It’s a factor.”
“It’s a factor,” O’Reilly said. “I’ll give you the factor.”
Stewart declared triumphantly that O’Reilly’s humility had moved him.
“You, Bill O’Reilly, can lead the flock of the Fox fearful to a better place,” Stewart said. “I believe in you.”
Watch the video below, courtesy of Comedy Central:
