Bill Bans Curt Weldon (R-PA) From ‘Factor;’ Congressman Responds On Floor Of The House; “He Stiffed Us!,” O’Reilly Says

From Monday night’s O’Reilly Factor: “Congressman Curt Weldon, Republican from Pennsylvania, is supposed to be here. Right now. In front of you. He didn’t show up. Didn’t call. Didn’t do anything. He’s the second guest in almost nine years not to show up. We only had two. The first one was Danny Glover. The crazy actor, he’s crazy, and we expected that. But Weldon, this is grossly irresponsible. He’s banned from ‘The Factor’ forever…”

But it didn’t end there. From the Talking Points Memo on tonight’s O’Reilly Factor:

Republican Congressman Curt Weldon was invited to appear on this broadcast two days ago. He accepted; Weldon’s pushing a book. Now we expected the congressman to show up for the interview in our Washington bureau. About 15 minutes before airtime, we received an e-mail from his chief of staff Russ Caso that Weldon was on his way. One problem: Weldon was not on his way. In fact, Weldon never showed up. He stiffed us! Apparently the congressman had some late votes, and that happens all the time, but most people call. They don’t stiff us! So I went on the air and told you exactly that Weldon did, and that he was banned from future appearances on the Factor. Well Weldon took exception to that and actually went to the house floor yesterday and said this:   “Mr. Speaker, in this job, all of us are used to misinformation, lies and distortions and manipulation by the media. We refer to that as spin; but, Mr. Speaker, I never expected such spin to come from the no-spin zone of Bill O’Reilly. [Snip] Mr. O’Reilly proceeded to tell his national audience last night that I ‘snubbed’ him; that I failed to call him; that I was inconsiderate; that I was rude. Talk about spin, Mr. Speaker. So today, I sent a memo to Mr. O’Reilly explaining the facts, and I would remind Mr. O’Reilly that the Secretary of Energy and an important meeting on nuclear issues in the former Soviet States takes my top priority. [Snip] Mr. Speaker, because I had some contacts from constituents and Members, I would put the summary of my statement to Mr. O’Reilly and the notes of my staff about their contact with Mr. O’Reilly’s show into the Congressional Record.” Amazing. What a colossal waste of the people’s time! Now look congressman, man to man, me and you, okay? We have an e-mail that proves your staff didn’t tell you the truth, and your own publisher apologized to us! Don’t embarrass yourself even further, sir.

O’Reilly’s Talking Points didn’t include Weldon’s explanation for the miscommunication. You can find it in the Congressional Record by typing in “O’Reilly” in the search field…