Bill O’Reilly has never been shy about his criticism of the current state of cable news television. It’s why he holds news/talk radio in such high regard.
While appearing on The Mark Simone Show on 710 WOR Tuesday, the former cable news host was asked about how MSNBC host Joe Scarborough has flip-flopped his stance on whether or not President Joe Biden is fit for office. That led Bill O’Reilly to give strong praise to news/talk radio.
“Could you explain this Morning Joe show to me? I’m watching this a few weeks ago and ‘Biden is as sharp as ever. He’s brilliant behind the scenes. He’s unbelievable.’ And they tell you he should not leave,” Simone said. “Then I’m watching the next week, they tell you he’s gotta leave. Then they tell you, it’s not going to be come out. Today, they’re saying Kamala (Harris) is the greatest speaker, that they got chills listening to her. How does he get away with this?”
“Because NBC doesn’t care,” O’Reilly retorted. “Look, this is the beauty of talk radio. Talk Radio is the last independent voice in America. I don’t know any talk radio hosts — once Air America went off the air a long time ago — I don’t know any conservative or moderate talk radio host in a country that takes orders about what to say.”
Simone joked there’s no one to give orders these days, which led O’Reilly to his next point.
“So at least you have an unfiltered opinion on and you can choose whether to listen or not. On television, it’s the exact opposite. The corporations run all of the television news agencies, and they tell these people what to say,” O’Reilly posited. “So (Joe Scarborough) knows he has to say certain things. It comes down to ‘This is what you’re going to say today.’ And for $3 or $4 million, he’s happy to say it. And that’s across the board, by the way. That’s across the board, both liberal and conservative. It’s just harrowing and such a disservice to the American public.”
Bill O’Reilly currently hosts a nationally syndicated one-hour radio show and also a daily 15-minute O’Reilly Update that airs on numerous news/talk stations.
