Bill O'Reilly has made no secret of his displeasure with the advance of LGBTQ rights -- calling them "Twilight Zone-ish" and pondering whether transgender voters will eventually demand a "special voting booth" -- so when Fox News contributor Kirsten Powers appeared on The O'Reilly Factor Monday evening to discuss a pro-LGBTQ editorial in The Charlotte Observer, his response wasn't exactly shocking.
"They say folks should just get used to the fact that transgender folks may be in the locker room with them," he said, "so according to this loony newspaper, if you have a young daughter, you should be accepting of the fact that a transgendered [sic] boy could shower next to her after an athletic exposition. That is insane. Joining us from Washington, Kirsten Powers. So do you understand how crazy The Charlotte Observer is?"
"No, I don't, actually," she replied.
"You don't?"
"I read the editorial," she said, "and nothing about it seemed crazy to me." She went on to argue that she doesn't believe that transgender individuals are pushing for these rights in order to prey on O'Reilly's hypothetical "young daughter[s]."
"It's not a matter of preying," he shot back, "it's a matter of being appropriate. I'm glad you are coming on and I'm glad you said what you said. I had to interrupt because I wanted to steer you into the rights of the mass of people, which are being violated by this insane program."
"It's not insane," an adamant Powers replied.
"It's designed to make all Americans believe there is no difference in gender at all!"
"That's not what it's designed to do," she said.
"Of course it is!" O'Reilly spat back. "It's what the progressives want!"
Watch the entire exchange below via Media Matters.
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