Bill O'Reilly used his "Talking Points Memo" Monday evening to address viewer criticism both of the Fox News debate last Thursday and the interview he conducted with GOP front-runner Donald Trump after it.
One correspondent wrote in that O'Reilly "baited Trump after the debate," while another called his "fawning interview with Trump after the debate 'cringe-worthy.'" Instead of addressing those individual claims directly, O'Reilly dismissed them by claiming that they can't both be true, then said that the larger problem is that "folks are hearing what they want to hear, not what's being said."
"We live in a time where you can create your own world by using high-tech gizmos," he said. "Outside of making a living, society no longer demands rationality on your part."
"In your private life," O'Reilly added, "you can create any scenario you want and lose complete touch with what is actually taking place." Which is precisely what viewers of "The O'Reilly Factor" and Fox News have done -- and which he openly, albeit tacitly, admitted they are doing, given that it's viewers of Fox News who inspired his diatribe.
He went on to describe, accidentally, the appeal of Trump, saying that this "new wave of behavior is now sweeping over the political process, and canny power seekers are harnessing emotion to achieve success [and] that kind of presentation has become the rule rather than the exception."
"It is my job to keep it all real and fair," O'Reilly concluded, and "I believe I am doing my job."
Watch the entire segment below via Fox News.
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