Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly said Wednesday his critics took remarks he made about a famed Harlem restaurant out of context and "fabricated a racial controversy where none exists." He criticized the liberal group Media Matters for America as "smear merchants" for publicizing statements he made on his radio show last week.
O'Reilly told his radio audience that he dined with civil rights activist Al Sharpton at Sylvia's recently and "couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference" between the black-run restaurant and others in New York City.
It was just like a suburban Italian restaurant, he said. "There wasn't any kind of craziness at all," he said.
O'Reilly told The Associated Press that Media Matters had "cherry-picked" remarks out of a broader conversation about racial attitudes. He had told listeners that his grandmother -- and many other white Americans -- feared blacks because they didn't know any and were swayed by violent images in black culture.
"If you listened to the full hour, it was a criticism of racism on the part of white Americans who are ignorant of the fact that there is no difference between white and black anymore," he told the AP.
[AP]
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Comments (3)
I'm no fan of O'Reilly, but... (Below threshold)1. Posted by bigby | September 27, 2007 10:48 AM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
I'm no fan of O'Reilly, but Bill's right on this one. It is obvious that CNN's reporting of this is agenda driven and that the quote is totally not in the context of the conversation.
1. Posted by bigby | September 27, 2007 10:48 AM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 27, 2007 10:48
2. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 27, 2007 2:39 PM | Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Bill O'Reilly was once a young reporter here in Portland, Oregon at KATU and wasn't all that great in my view. After losing his job at INSIDE EDITION to Debra Norville, O'Reilly went back to college and received more education and attempted a comeback by landing a job as a reporter at FOX. For someone of such limited skills, O'Reilly has done far better than I would have expected.
2. Posted by Paul Hooson | September 27, 2007 2:39 PM |
Score: -1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 27, 2007 14:39
3. Posted by langtry | September 27, 2007 3:34 PM | Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
CNN's agenda is revealed in the fact that they are reporting this as if it were just O'Reilly saying supposedly offensive things. Anyone who saw this knows that his conversation was with NPR's Juan Williams, a noted Liberal pundit, radio host and author. Williams has said that there was nothing racially offensive about the conversation and that he and O'Reilly were in agreement.
It should be noted that CNN consistently trails behind Fox News in the ratings, and that this is a strategy designed to damage O'Reilly and by extension, Fox News.
3. Posted by langtry | September 27, 2007 3:34 PM |
Score: 1 (1 votes cast)
Posted on September 27, 2007 15:34