On Tuesday’s O’Reilly Factor, Bill O’Reilly used his opening “talking points memo” segment to call out a guest on CNN International and “America haters” who he believes “are succeeding to some extent” in “trying to tear down the racial fabric” of the country by “selling rank propaganda.”
Prior to his heated debate with Fox News contributor Kristen Powers, O’Reilly rhetorically asked viewers if “the American compact is falling apart” and first explained how Founding Fathers such as John Adams and Alexander Hamilton “did not really believe the folks could come together to form a vibrant democracy.”
O’Reilly noted that “[t]hey were wrong” as “individual states prospered and America became the most powerful country the world has ever seen,” but admitted that “we’re not a perfect country” with a history of African-Americans and Native Americans receiving terrible treatment along the way.
In modern times, however, O’Reilly lashed out at “some who hate this country” for “trying tear down the racial fabric...by dividing Americans along racial and economic lines.” A clip was then played from CNN International in which the College of Charleston’s Patricia Williams Lessane agreed with anchor Jonathan Mann’s leading question about racism being “built into this country”:
We see it playing out in the narratives that we see in the – the media, the way that our President is described and stereotyped and caricatured, the way that black children are considered thugs and when their white counterparts do the same sorts of things, they kinda are said to have had mental illness or – there is definitely a narrative where black people are consistently and historically being, you know, described as, you know, violent, savage, wild and that – this isn't anything new.
Using FBI statistics, O’Reilly slammed this assertion:
As usual, the stats tell the true story. According to the FBI, there were 1,163,000 violent crimes in 2013. Last stats available. Only 3,500 were classified as race-based hate crimes. So, you can see a that a nation of 320 million people are not awash in racial warfare. In fact, legal protections make it almost impossible to be outwardly hostile to a minority in the workplace. I have traveled to 80 countries and I can tell you there is more racial harmony in the USA than 90 percent of the places I visited.
Despite all that, the O’Reilly Factor host opined that “the America haters are trying to brand this USA as racist and they are succeeding to some extent” as there are now “more than a million violent crimes every year in the USA” and “nearly half the country [is] willing to vote for a socialist for president.”
Wrapping it all up, O’Reilly ruled that “America is changing” and simply “those that dislike the country are taking advantage of the chaos” by “selling rank propaganda that white supremacy drives the government,” “working men and women cannot get ahead,” and “all authority is corrupt,” and “white privilege.”
He ruled that such ideas are “corrosive, hateful, and dishonest in the extreme” and anyone who seeks to “defend America...will be viciously attacked and few defenders will come to your aid and that's why the haters are making so much progress.”
A partial transcript from FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor on June 23 can be found below.
FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor
June 23, 2015
8:01 p.m. Eastern
BILL O’REILLY: Is the American compact falling apart? That is the subject of this evening's talking points memo. There was heavy concern among the Founding Fathers about whether we, the people would be able to govern ourselves after breaking away from England. Some early leaders like John Adams and Alexander Hamilton did not really believe the folks could come together to form a vibrant democracy. Adams and Hamilton favoring a strong central authority to dictate behavior. They were wrong. The individual states prospered and America became the most powerful country the world has ever seen, but we’re not a perfect country. Blacks have been treated horribly, and that fact still resonates today. Also, Native Americans were exploited and brutalized as were whites as a nation forged civilization, but now, some who hate this country are trying to tear down the racial fabric. They are doing so by dividing Americans along racial and economic lines. Listen to next exchange on CNN International.
CNN ANCHOR JONATHAN MANN [on CNN International]: Is racism built into this country? Is it in the hearts of many Americans?
COLLEGE OF CHARLESTON’s PATRICIA WILLIAMS LESSANE [on CNN International]: Oh, I definitely think that's the case. We see it playing out in the narratives that we see in the – the media, the way that our President is described and stereotyped and caricatured, the way that black children are considered thugs and when their white counterparts do the same sorts of things, they kinda are said to have had mental illness or – there is definitely a narrative where black people are consistently and historically being, you know, described as, you know, violent, savage, wild and that – this isn't anything new.
(....)
O’REILLY: Yet, the America haters are trying to brand this USA as racist and they are succeeding to some extent. Now, back to the social contract. The men who designed American well understood that each of us have responsibilities as citizens. We must obey the law. We must work for our daily bread and we should pay enough attention to elect honest leadership. But how many of us are fulfilling our part of the bargain? With more than a million violent crimes every year in the USA, there’s a problem and now with nearly half the country, willing to vote for a socialist for president, another huge problem’s brewing. By the way, that stat’s from a recent Gallup poll. The truth is America is changing and those that dislike the country are taking advantage of the chaos. They’re selling rank propaganda that white supremacy drives the government. That working man and woman cannot get ahead. That all authority is corrupt. White privilege. That's corrosive, hateful, and dishonest in the extreme and yet, if you defend America as we do here on The Factor, you will be viciously attacked and few defenders will come to your aid and that's why the haters are making so much progress.
