During his tenure at Fox News, Bill O’Reilly was a cable news titan, featuring huge ratings for the network. He says he attempted to parlay that fame into a spot as a presidential debate moderator but with no success.
While appearing on 77 WABC’s Sid and Friends in the Morning Thursday, O’Reilly shared the five questions he would ask former President Donald Trump and the five questions he would posit to President Joe Biden if he had been tasked with serving as the moderator for the 90-minute event.
After sharing his questions, O’Reilly revealed in 2012 that he marched into former Fox News CEO Roger Ailes’ office and demanded a chance to moderate a debate between President Barack Obama and challenger Mitt Romney.
“I walk in — and I had a great relationship (with Ailes) — he respected me. And I say, ‘Hey, Rog. Let’s shake it up, alright? Let’s let me — alone — moderate this debate.’ Because I know that both Romney and Obama are classic evaders,” O’Reilly said. “They are the best in the world at evading direct questions. That’s true. I said, ‘I’ll hold them to account, you’ll get the highest ratings in the history of Fox News. It’ll be a worldwide phenomenon, and it’ll be important for the country to see the two presidential candidates have to answer the questions.’
“He looks up at me and he goes ‘Fox would like to do debates in the future,’ implying that if he ever unleashed me that Fox would never get another debate in history,” O’Reilly said with a chuckle. “I laughed. I actually laughed.”
O’Reilly was unsuccessful in his quest to moderate a 2012 presidential debate. The clashes between Obama and Romney were ultimately moderated by ABC’s Martha Raddatz, CNN’s Candy Crowley, and CBS’ Bob Schieffer.
