During Thursday night's edition of The O'Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel, host Bill O'Reilly tried to demonstrate the bad judgment of the Democratic National Committee allying itself with the Black Lives Matter movement, which has members who have called for violence against police officers in protests all across the country.
However, Keith Boykin, an African-American who once served as a special assistant to president Bill Clinton, aggressively asserted that none of the BLM leaders agreed with that concept -- so much so that the anchor had to turn off his microphone so the host and another guest could take part in the discussion.
The cable TV news host began the segment by stating: “The radical group Black Lives Matter [is] not all that different than the Black Panther movement. They both believe America is a racist country where police actively target blacks for oppression. Black Lives Matter is now causing trouble all over the country.”
He then aired videos that showed hundreds of people in St. Paul, Minn., on August 29 chanting: “Pigs in a blanket, fry them like bacon!” and hundreds more in New York City on December 13 shouting: “What do we want? Dead cops! When do we want them? Now!”
O'Reilly then noted: “You would think, if you have an organized group in America saying 'We want dead cops,' that all decent people would reject that group.”
“But the Democratic Party is actively embracing Black Lives Matter,” he stated before quoting from a letter written by Amy Dacey, the chief executive officer of the Democratic National Committee:
We believe that your organization would be an ideal host for a presidential candidate forum -- where all of the Democratic candidates can showcase their ideas and policy positions that will expand opportunity for all, strengthen the middle class and address racism in America.
“I think it's a good move on the part of the DNC to work with the Black Lives Matter movement; the official movement, not everybody out in the street,” Boykin noted.
“And the African-American community is concerned about the 923 police shootings this year; they're concerned about the 2.2 million people who are incarcerated in our country, the highest of any country on the planet,” he stated.
O'Reilly then asked: “So you believe that the Democratic Party is correct in embracing” this extreme organization?
“No, I did not say that,” the guest responded. “You have mischaracterized my opinion.”
“Well, if the group calls for police officers to be killed … ,” the host said in one of several attempts to elicit an answer from Boykin, who continued to filibuster.
“You were able to find one clip of some people who were saying some outrageous things,” the guest charged. “That is not a reflection of the entire movement, anybody in the leadership.”
Obviously irritated, O'Reilly declared: “You're either going to stop talking, or I'm going to cut your mic off. Did anybody in the Black Lives Matter movement repudiate 'We want dead cops?'”
After a long moment of awkward silence, O'Reilly said: “Thank you.”
Boykin then tried to slam the anchor, who reacted by cutting off his microphone and stating: “Your time is done.”
The host then turned to his other guest, David Goodfriend -- who teaches law at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. -- and asked him if the Democratic Party should ally themselves with Black Lives Matter.
“I think the DNC isn't aligning itself with this group,” Goodfriend responded. “They just said they want to have an event with them, where their candidates can come.”
Running out of patience, the anchor asked: “Would you be comfortable with the Republican Party bringing in the Stormfront -- the Nazi people -- and saying we’d like our candidates to talk to you guys? Would you be comfortable with that?”
“No, I wouldn't,” Goodfriend responded.
O'Reilly then stated that members of the Black Lives Matter organization “just this week interrupted a town hall meeting in Los Angeles, where the mayor couldn't even speak to the folks. They stormed in.”
“That was terrible,” the teacher admitted.
“Thank you, professor, for being an honest man,” the anchor stated.
O'Reilly then allowed Boykin to have “the last word” on the subject, and he came out swinging:
The Black Lives Matter movement is not the Nazi party. It’s an offensive suggestion to make that comparison, Bill. I’m outraged that you would say that.
“I asked you to give me one name of repudiation, and neither of you gentlemen could give me that,” the Fox News anchor stated.
“Can you name me one person who has endorsed that?” Boykin asked again.
O'Reilly replied: “All the people in the videos. The group is judged by its behavior, gentlemen. All of America just saw that behavior.”
