In an interview with the Fox News host on Friday's NBC Today, co-host Matt Lauer wondered if "President Bill O'Reilly" would have made the Bowe Bergdahl prisoner exchange with the Taliban. O'Reilly replied: "I would not make the deal....These are not prisoners of war, these Taliban guys, they're war criminals. We ran down last night the atrocities that the Taliban has committed over the past ten years, and it's horrifying." [Listen to the audio or watch the video after the jump]
Lauer followed up: "Do you think the administration either didn't see the reaction coming or misread the reaction?" O'Reilly responded: "It's such a mystery that they wouldn't know. First of all, President Obama knows what Bergdahl did because there's a classified report on the guy....They already know what he did, and it's not good."
O'Reilly continued:
I sympathize a little with Barack Obama, but I think he's got a blind spot for what the folks think. He doesn't understand how angry the folks get. They don't like deserters. Bergdahl's a deserter. There's no question about it, he deserted. Guys were killed looking for him. That makes it even worse. And the third thing is, these Taliban monsters are going to kill people again.
Here is a transcript of the June 6 exchange on Bergdahl:
7:16 AM ET
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MATT LAUER: If you are President Bill O'Reilly and you're in the Oval Office and your advisers walk in, given the circumstances we know right now – and there's probably a lot we don't know – but given the circumstances we know, do you make the deal for his release?
[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE: Bergdahl Backlash Grows; O'Reilly on Soldier's Controversial Release]
BILL O'REILLY: I said on my program I would not make the deal, but it's not an easy call because you do have the life of an American serviceman in your hands as commander-in-chief. But these are war criminals, you have to understand that. These are not prisoners of war, these Taliban guys, they're war criminals. We ran down last night the atrocities that the Taliban has committed over the past ten years, and it's horrifying.
LAUER: Do you think the administration either didn't see the reaction coming or misread the reaction?
O'REILLY: It's a mystery – it's such a mystery that they wouldn't know. First of all, President Obama knows what Bergdahl did because there's a classified report on the guy. He's already been investigated. They already know what he did, and it's not good. Because if it were good, they would have already leaked it.
Second of all, Hillary Clinton, alright? The first thing she did yesterday was leak out that she didn't want the deal. Alright? So now everybody, almost, is turning against the President. I sympathize a little with Barack Obama, but I think he's got a blind spot for what the folks think. He doesn't understand how angry the folks get. They don't like deserters. Bergdahl's a deserter. There's no question about it, he deserted. Guys were killed looking for him. That makes it even worse. And the third thing is, these Taliban monsters are going to kill people again.
(...)
