If you were a Republican presidential candidate, wouldn't you jump at the chance to do a one hour primetime interview on Fox News Channel the night before Election Day?
According to Bill O'Reilly who appeared on NBC's Tonight Show Thursday, that's what Mitt Romney was offered and he turned it down (video follows with transcript and commentary):
JAY LENO, HOST: Now, I'm told you gave advice to both candidates.
BILL O’REILLY: I didn't give advice. I talked to them because I was trying to get both of them on.
LENO: Right.
O’REILLY: And the president, you know, his guy said to me, "What? We're going to put him on The Factor and then you're going to ask him about Libya? Come on, no."
LENO: Right.
O’REILLY: Which I would've.
LENO: Okay.
LENO: Yeah.
O’REILLY: I told them. I said, "You guys are going to lose unless you do something dramatic. Unless you make," and we would've given him the whole hour. The Monday, the night before, we would've given him the whole hour because we did invite the president. They turned us down. Romney would've had an hour in primetime on the highest rated show in the country, in cable news.
LENO: Right.
O’REILLY: And he didn't take it. I, we were just like amazed.
LENO: Did you have private conversations with both of them or…
O’REILLY: No, I don't talk to them. I talk to their people.
It's no surprise Obama said no for exactly the reasons O'Reilly laid out.
But I quite imagine Romney and his team would like a do-over on that one.
