Bill O'Reilly, (No, not that Bill O'Reilly) is a Conservative Political Consultant. He comes from a famous Conservative Political family, but is no Fan of President Trump. He explains why, and O'Reilly also gives his take on the Democratic Ticket and Black Lives Matter. Let's Go!!!
Bill O'Reilly, (No, not that Bill O'Reilly) is a Conservative Political Consultant. He comes from a famous Conservative Political family, but is no Fan of President Trump. He explains why, and O'Reilly also gives his take on the Democratic Ticket and Black Lives Matter. Let's Go!!!
Announcer: (0:00) "We all know and love him. Our host Dominic Carter has moderated debates with Hillary Clinton, billionaire Michael Bloomberg, and even interviewed Nelson Mandela. Here is our host.... political commentator, Dominic Carter."
Dominic Carter: (0:28) “And Hello everyone. The Vice Presidential debate is scheduled for October 7th at the University of Utah, in Salt Lake City. In light of the Corona Virus, does Joe Biden continue to run...what amounts to a Rose Garden strategy. Let's go.”
Bill O’Reilly: (0:48) “It’s that old adage. You don’t get in the way of your enemy committing suicide. And that’s right. Trump was just murdering himself at those briefings. He causes lots of controversy. He’s also very good at tying you up. If you put some fodder out into the field, Trump’s very good of blowing it up and making it controversial. So I think the Democrats have been wise to keep him in that basement. And I’d keep him there as long as you can. Avoid live interviews… go out and put videos so it looks like he’s engaging the public, engaging the press. But don’t go live with Dominic Carter. Don’t do it….you know….cause he’s going to joe Biden on you. You know. (laughs)”
Dominic Carter: (1:23) “That's Republican political consultant Bill O'Reilly…. also an op ed writer for Newsday… the newspaper. Now bill, he joins us now….and your family name is famous in American politics. Explain why.”
Bill O’Reilly: (1:39) Well, not the O'Reilly name. (laughs) That one’s pretty neutral. But, but I guess… the, my full name is William Frank Buckley O'Reilly. So the Buckley side, the Buckley family obviously has been involved in conservative politics for many, many years. And I've had various aunts and uncles that made a significant difference in politics, you know, over the years.”
Dominic Carter: (2:01) “Your uncle was a major conservative?”
Bill O’Reilly: (2:03) “Yeah, Bill Buckley, who founded National Review, and then Jim Buckley was US Senator from New York and a federal judge, and some other things and then Priscilla Buckley was an editor at National Review and….It's very lucky to come from an illustrious family. But the one thing that I prove is that even the best jeans fade in the wash. (laughs)”
Dominic Carter: (2:22) “Is it a lot of pressure when you come from a family like that? Federal Judges. Major… major players in Politics? It that a lot of pressure?”
Bill O’Reilly: (2:33) “When I first started in politics, I made sure to hide that…. and I didn't let anyone know for a number of years. And because….. because of the pressure, I mean, I could I could say, Oh, I didn't want to you know, use family name you know, and drop it here and there, but I think it was because I was afraid I might end up on page six, you know, in a bar brawl and, and embarrass everybody. But, a little bit, but at some point, you come into your own I mean, I'm now 57 and I know what I am and when I'm not, and, and you become comfortable with that. So I never tried to, you know, be anyone other than who I am. And, and so, I'd say I'm definitely no Bill Buckley. …. I can't even claim to be Bill O'reilly. (laughs)”
Dominic Carter: (3:15) “The television host.”
Bill O’Reilly: “The television host. That's right.”
Dominic Carter: “Do you get a lot of people saying Bill O’Reilly….?”
Bill O’Reilly: (3:22) “Oh boy. Unbelievable. I used to…. when I lived in Manhattan, I would get his, besides the phone calls, I get his dry cleaning…. his mail. And my In fact, my answering machine was, was the number for his producer. Because I got so many calls. I got, you know, a couple hundred calls a week. And a lot, a lot of drunken calls at three in the morning, Mr. O'Reilly you're the greatest, you know.”
Dominic Carter: (3:40) “Let's get down to business. Is it fair to say that you have been a consistent conservative critics of President Trump….and if so, why?”
Bill O’Reilly: (3:51) “Yes, I have been, you know, since…. since he first announced in 2015. I mean, really, because I'm a New Yorker and I'm aware of the way he operates and how he does business and, and doesn't pay bills. And to me, there was always a lack of honor there. And, you know, when I saw that, that Republican presidential field, the primary field in 16 it was really an all star cast of 16 or 17. And they had some damn good candidates in that race. And but you know, Trump is the you know, one of these things is not like the other. And you know, he stood out right away. I think he lit it up in the press, he knows how to do that. I mean, that's his genius is to he knows how to gain attention. And I think the standard, you know, Republicans in that race, had no idea what to do with him. And he definitely, you know, tapped into into that vein, but yeah, I was I was not a supporter from the beginning. You know, I asked myself a million times, you know, why I've been so stridently opposed to Trump. And I you know, the honor thing comes up in the rest of it, but from a selfish reason. He ruins…. he's ruined the party's chances in places like where I work, and he takes legitimate issues and he makes them almost unable to be sold. He takes the worst part of an issue and he blows it and he and he, you know, he makes he makes immigration reform or logical things… he makes them so negative and toxic, that you can't promote them without sounding like a jerk. And so, you know, that's part of it too, but I'm not a supporter. I'm not I'm not a Democrat. You know, I'm not a Democrat. I voted for Evan McMillan in 2016. And I'll probably write my daughter's name or something. And, you know, this year, I just, I just, I'm stuck in between, and it's unfortunate.”
Dominic Carter: (5:36) “And so your not going to vote for President Trump?”
Bill O’Reilly: (5:38) “No.”
Dominic Carter: (5:40) “The first rule of being a Vice Presidential pick is do no harm. What do you make of the Democratic ticket?”
Bill O’Reilly: (5:49) “Yeah, I think she was really a perfect choice. I was, um, I had to do a prediction contest and I went with Val Demings the whole way through, but the reason I did one with Val Demings and Kamala Harris was, was my second one was because they both had a law enforcement background. And I thought that was really smart of Biden and I don't know whether this was the thinking but I can, I can presume it…. is because Kamala Harris has a law enforcement background….You gonna get that blow-back from the left. And that's exactly what moderate voters need to hear. That's what non Trump Republicans need to hear and center right Independents… they need to hear….. the left being unsatisfied with the pick. And they got that enough!! It wasn't that much of a blow-back, but it was enough where some, you know, on the far left, you know, grumbled about her law enforcement background”
Dominic Carter: (6:35) “But what about the AOC crowd? The AOC’s of the world. The far left?”
Bill O’Reilly: (6:40) “They’ve got no place….They’ve no place to go. I mean, they're not gonna you know, they're not gonna go with Kanye, they're not gonna go third party.”
Dominic Carter: (6:44) “Can you believe we actually have to mention Kanye West….and you have to mention it because if he siphons off a couple percentage of the black vote…of the African American vote…it could re-elect President Trump.”
Bill O’Reilly: (6:59) “Yeah, it was so obvious what they were doing from the beginning. And that's, you know, that's the kind of that's really not proper politics. That's that's not fair game. It's not how it works. And I've been involved in dozens of campaigns where, where someone in the back of the room comes up with the idea. Let's get Steve to run, you know, let's get somebody else out there to do it, but you don't actually go through that. But yeah, it is unbelievable that you have to, um, you have to factor in Kanye. But But you do to some extent because if they get them on, you know, the ballot in three or four places, you know, that could be the case. But for Kamala Harris, she's, you know, I think people got it right. I forgot who wrote it first, but she was both groundbreaking and the safest pic out there.
Dominic Carter: “History Making?”
Bill O’Reilly: (7:38) “History making. She covers every box. She's got a little bit of everything. She's got law enforcement. She's a grown up, she's, you know, she's, she's been an executive as an attorney general. She's, she's, she's black but also Asian. She's, she covers a lot of boxes.”
Dominic Carter: (7:52) “Okay. So here's what we know. Biden, in terms of his victory and the nomination. Black women were key to that…..And they also a pillar, if you will, of the democratic vote, in terms of turning out what democrats need, right? So does Senator Harris….at the end of the day ignite the base that Biden must have to turn out and win?”
Bill O’Reilly: (8:25) “I think she definitely helps it. And I mean, that's been, that's been a constituency that's been growing over the years. I mean, 20 years ago was always African Americans were the were the least registered at least less likely to turnout. And a lot of troops on the ground. And a lot of campaign plans have completely changed that, where you saw black women in particular in the Doug Jones race, were really made the difference in that race in Alabama. And then you see it in Georgia as well. And and to the point where the most reliable voters in America are black women. And so yeah, I think if there was any, any waning passion for for Biden among African American women, I think Kamala Harris definitely shores that up, which is just one of those reasons. If you look at all those little boxes again, she checks them all. It was a really smart pick. And also, you know, imagine poor Mike Pence has to go go on to into a debate with her, you know, I mean she's she's the prosecutor you do not want. you know, she comes in on the heels and it's like, uh oh, you know, No lo contende. It's time to plead.”
Dominic Carter: (9:21) “So places where Democrats need the votes to turn out. Wisconsin, Michigan, , Pennsylvania, North Carolina and elsewhere, of course. President Trump for his part has called senator Harris, quote mean, nasty and disrespectful. A video put out by the Trump campaign labels her phony. Does that help Trump or hurt Trump?”
Bill O’Reilly: (9:48) “I don't think it helps Trump but I'm not sure it hurts him any more. any more so either…. because it's kind of factored in. I mean, everyone knows how Trump rolls. And that's how he does it. He's very good at at the monikers he's got one for everybody. He hasn't quite you know, “sleepy Joe.” I'm not sure if that's the right one. I'm not sure he's the phony Kamala, maybe it's effective. It works. I mean, it works in politics. He's good at he's good at tactics. He's a tactical politician. he's not strategic but he's tactical but he's but he never stops so he's you know, sometimes you can go without a strategy when you're just you're just you know bowling ahead forward. I don't think it I think it's a push to be honest with you.
Dominic Carter: (10:26) “Political Consultant Bill O'Reilly. You mentioned the vice president has to debate Senator Harris, October 7 in Salt Lake City. What will that debate look like? And you know where I'm going with this.. buffalo NY a few years ago, when Hillary Clinton went up there to debate and Rick Lazio and he said sign this sign this and that was the end of his campaign.”
Bill O’Reilly: (10:52) It's I think it's not gonna be a free for all. as my is my guess. It's gonna be a very measured debate. And the reason that I say that is that both Vice President Pence and Senator Kamala Harris are preparers. She's a prosecutor, she does her homework, you could see when she took on Joe Biden, I think her blood pressure probably went down as she was attacking them. Like she's….. you do not want to like I said before…. you do not want her to draw her as the attorney against you. She's very well prepared at the same time. pence is very measured as well. He's incredibly respectful of women, which may tie him up a little bit. I mean, to the point where he famously won't go out with a woman one on one. And it's, um, and I can respect that that's, you know, with between….his values. But I think she's going to be….. she's going to come after him. And I think it would be very difficult for him to find the right way to defend himself and to attack back…. because he is so respectful. It's going to be an interesting debate. I think, going into the debate. The expectations, though, are so high for her, that he may you may do better than expectations.”
Dominic Carter: (11:59) “What’s the game of expectations as it relates to this debate coming up?”
Bill O’Reilly: (12:03) “Yeah, I think I think that, you know, the the internet, the twittersphere, or the, you know, the Instagram sphere is all predicting that Kamala Harris is gonna wipe the field with him. And I think if she doesn't do that there'll be some victory for him there.”
Dominic Carter: (12:19) “Ok. Biden’s Choice for number two….Does that show that he's willing to listen to those who disagree with him or those that have attacked him? We all know how senator Harris during the primary went after him strongly. So does the pick give him some credit or not?”
Bill O’Reilly: (12:40) “Yeah, I think I think it does. And, and I think Biden is very good at sensing where the MIT where his party is. And Biden always seems to be at the middle of his party. And so I think he shifted to where he needs to be. He understands that the so much of the enthusiasm coming out of the Democratic Party is from black and Latino voters. It's from female voters. And I think it was a very logical and strategic Pick. Biden is a really nice guy and even, you know, Senator Lindsey Graham from South Carolina….a Republican, a conservative Republican, I think he called Biden the nicest guy in the Senate. He was the nicest one out there. He's not gonna hold that grudge. And I think that does. That does probably, you know, bode well for him. I think people appreciate that because she really did take his head off. And but he's willing to, you know, be a big boy and put it down I think it was it was a very smart choice.”
Dominic Carter:(13:28) “In terms of Hillary Clinton. I think you can agree…one of the reason she lost is she ran a rose garden strategy, even though she wasn't the incumbent, and she played it to safe…and it seems like Biden, in this day of Coronavirus is playing it safe trying to run out the clock. One. Do you agree with that? And is there tremendous risk?"
Bill O’Reilly: (13:59) "I totally agree with that strategy. And I think that's ….I don't know whether…. at some point he'll need to pivot. And he seems to be doing that, you know that now with, with Senator Harris coming on board, but I've totally agree with that strategy is the old adage, you don't you know, you don't get in the way of your enemy committing suicide. And that's right. I mean, Trump was just murdering himself at those briefings. He causes lots of controversy. He's also very good at tying you up, if you put some fodder out into the field. Trump's very good at blowing it up and making it controversial. So I think that I think that the Democrats have been wise to keep him in that basement. And I keep them there as long as he can do and, and to avoid live interviews. I mean, go out and put video so it looks like he's been like he's engaging the public and engaging the press. But don't go live with Dominic Carter. We don't don't do it. You know, I mean, because he's gonna he's gonna Joe Biden on you. You know. I mean, I think you'll see a lot more of her than him, but he is it seems like he's going out there a little bit more, trying to address that that conversation. You know, that concern there. By the way. Speaking of the Clintons, Bill Clinton shouldn't be within 1000 miles of that convention. And If he goes strolling in there with Hillary, you know, that's just that's just stupid. That's dumb, you know, with Epstein out there and the rest of it. I mean, I, you know, that's I'm not a Democrat, I'm not looking to give advice, but I wouldn't get them anywhere near there.”
Dominic Carter: “How would you assess the Presidential Campaign thus far?”
Bill O’Reilly: (15:24) “I think it's Biden's to lose!!! I think it is at this point. And I think that the thing is as a strategist, the thing that drives me crazy and as you know, I'm not a Trump supporter, but Trump had a had a huge opportunity with this crisis, to grow his popularity. And I know that sounds crass, but crises are opportunities for politicians, and you look at what Governor Cuomo did and what his numbers are, and he really screwed up in the nursing home thing potentially.”
Dominic Carter: “Your talking about the Coronavirus.”
Bill O’Reilly: (15:53) “I'm talking about the Coronavirus, but he took it he took it he took charge of it. He said I've got this and the people responded. You know there were a lot of problems with what he did. And there are a lot a lot of a lot of seniors died potentially because of mistakes that the administration made. But he said I've got this and Trump never did that. Trump has ignored the Coronavirus largely ignored it to his complete peril. I think he's right to be doing the culture wars and to do the you know, the crime and law and order. That's absolutely a winner for a republican but until he deals with the you know, with Corona you know, the you know, it was it's the economy dummy or the economy stupid was that was the the raging Cajun thing in 92. And now it's just it's the it's Corona dummy, you know, I mean, unless you address Corona because that you know, if kids have to come home from school and parents can't go to work, and and you still look like you don't get it, you don't really care that much and you're dreaming and it's going to go away. I don't think you can win an election. I think yes. On the crime things. Yes. On the economic talk, but without looking like he pivots on Corona. I think it's this is Biden's election to lose at this point.”
Dominic Carter: (17:00)“Political consultant Bill O'Reilly we’re talking to. How has the Corona Virus changed politics?”
Bill O’Reilly: (17:06) “It's, uh, you know, it's sad because it seemed like there was a truce for about 10 minutes. And where everybody was kind of, you know, freaking out together a little bit, especially in the northeast, where it where it first launched, but it's, um, it's now it's now driven the divisions even deeper, you know, stupid, you know, fights over masks, and then the rest of it are out there. But I but again, I'll just gonna go back I think the Republican Party I'm not blaming all Republicans, but from the leadership made a major error and trying to push things back too fast. They went for the, you know, for the libertarian, we're free, we've got to be out there, we've got to open everything. And I get that instinct, but there is something called the social contract. It goes back all, you know, goes back to Aristotle, it has been around forever, that, you know, you know, just because you have a driver's license, you can't drive 150 miles an hour. There's some things you have to do to protect yourself, and everybody else, and this is one of them. And I think Republicans have pivoted and I think Trump is pivoting. But I think it's become it's certainly a liability for the party and I hope it addresses it because I'm really worried that the Senate goes down too and the house… and then you have, you know, you have the Democrats controlling all three and if the filibuster gets dumped, which President Obama is now advocates… former President Obama's advocating.... that gets really dangerous for conservatives, we go Whoa, that's a whole different story.”
Dominic Carter: “And it’s a whole lot of power.”
Bill O’Reilly: (18:30) “That's a whole lot of power. If you go from you know, 60 vote cloture, which is when they can cut the vote off to pure 50 vote in the Senate in the house. You know, Joe Biden's a nice guy. I don't see him standing up to the bills that could be coming through at him. And you could be talking about trillion-dollar new programs. Not that republicans have been so great with the with the fiscal books lately, but you could be seen a very different America. If that filibuster goes and I don't think that Biden has the backbone is to veto things.”
Dominic Carter: (18:58) “Bill we're almost out of time here. Let me switch gears… Black Lives Matter! Protests throughout the world! Police Brutality! What do you make of all this?”
Bill O’Reilly: (19:10) “I make if you do small B, small l small m and you could even do a capital B, sure Black Lives Matter. I'm in total agreement. I understand why people push back against the “all live matters” all lives matter… even. And I was explaining this to my youngest daughter, you know, you have, for years you've had, you'll have a shooting in Harlem. And it's like two seconds on the news, if it even makes it, where a young girl gets killed is nothing you can go gets killed in the Upper East Side is 10 days of news. I mean, let's all be honest, that's been going on for a long, long time. So I get it. Black Lives Matter for the organization, to me is a dangerous Marxist organization that is trying to hijack legitimate sympathies of Americans to get power. And they've gotten a lot of money sent to them by people who don't know what they represent. So I'm not a supportive capital B, capital L, capital M Black Lives Matter. But you know, as a sentiment, sure, but not the organization.’
Dominic Carter: OK. Is Police Brutality a problem?”
Bill O’Reilly: (20:07) "Sure, sure, absolutely. Yeah, I mean, you definitely see it and, and video cameras have brought it to light. I think for a lot of white people, frankly. And it's like because, you know, we live our lives without seeing the looks, or getting pulled over. So a lot of whites don't see it. I think video has opened up a lot of people's eyes. There are some…. and I've talked to cops all the time, and a lot of cops will tell you, there are people who should not be cops that are on the force. And that's got to be dealt with. I mean, there's no question about it. But I do say and I'm not equivocating, here……The majority of police officers are good. And they do things that are that are instrumental. And we need them in the streets and they'll lay down their life for you….. at times. But the training and the rest of it all has to happen. Absolutely. And bad cops have to go.”
Dominic Carter: (20:54) “Well I agree with what you said about….the overwhelming majority of the police force….They want to protect people. They're out there to do good. They go to work each and every day to make life better for you, I, and everybody listening. So I want to go full house here or Full circle I should say. You do believe that the senate majority is in play? The Democrats may take the Senate?”
Bill O’Reilly: (21:18) “Absolutely. Yeah!! Yeah, I think I think I mean, if I had to handicap it today, I'd say be a 50-50. And then with Vice President Harris, should that come to pass….. being the deciding vote.”
Dominic Carter: (21:31) "And McConnell…the majority leader says he’s optimistic and believes that they will hang on, but is warning it’s going to be tough. Do you agree?”
Bill O’Reilly: (21:42) “Yeah, yeah. Oh, I agree. And I spoke with somebody yesterday who's been in touch with senate people in Washington. And she said that their polling is optimistic for Republicans that they, they think that they can hang on… that Collins is closing. That a few other races are tightening up. I think a lot of it depends on what happens when kids go back to school, frankly. And I think you know, to me, this is a COVID election….because when people feel…when they're worried about their health and their security, nothing else matters.”
Dominic Carter: (22:11) “I want to close this way. When the President tweets, that’s aimed to suburban house wives…that they don’t have to worry about low income housing coming into their neighborhood…that would invade their neighborhood…what do you make of that type of tweet?”
Bill O’Reilly: (22:26) “Yeah, I'm glad you brought that up because it's an exact example of why I said in the beginning, that I don't support President Trump, because there's a legitimate issue there but he completely mangled it. The issue is that zoning doesn't affect who can move into a neighborhood. It's what can be there. So it's not you know, zoning by itself is not discriminatory. What he made it sound like is we're gonna get rid of public housing or public housing is coming in. We're moving the ghetto into Scarsdale. You know, that kind of stuff. That's the dog whistle stuff. That is dog whistle stuff, and it's wrong. What I see as a conservative is that is that quarter acre zoning which HUD went after is the dream of Everybody, it's a dream of every African American and every Irish family. And every Greek family of all Americans want that. And if you have a neighborhood or real estate agent that is steering African Americans away from one community, lock them up, lock them up and beat him in the back of the head while you're at it. As far as I'm concerned, you know!!! It's got to be the same rules for everybody in the same zoning rules. But when Trump goes out there, he makes it sound racist. And that's not what it is. That's not what that position should be.”
Dominic Carter: (23:31) “Republican Political Consultant Bill O’Reilly. Thank you so much for the appearance.”
Bill O’Reilly: (23:37) “Thank You Dominic. Great to see you. And thanks so much for having me on. Great Show.”
Dominic Carter: (23:41) “And we appreciate you and your work. And to those of you listening, thank you as well. We look forward to your feedback.”
Announcer closes: (23:51) "Join us next time for conversations with Dominic Carter. Reach out to Dominic on Twitter at Dominic TV radio. Dominic looks forward to hearing from you. Thank you for joining us."