The handful of questions Bill O’Reilly asked in his pre-Super Bowl interview with Pres. Obama came from a shortlist of the last couple years of White House blunders including healthcare.gov, the attack in Benghazi, and the IRS scandal. Toward the end of the 10-minute interview the president even called out O’Reilly and Fox News.
“These kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them,” said the president.
O’Reilly began with the with Healthcare.gov glitches and why the president “didn’t fire Sebelius” speaking of HHS secretary Kathleen Sebelius, charged with implementing the Affordable Care Act. “I promise you we hold everyone up and down the line accountable,” said the president. “But our main focus is how to make this thing work.”
O’Reilly then asked if it “was it the biggest mistake of your presidency to tell the nation, over and over, if you like your insurance, you can keep your insurance?”
“Oh Bill, you’ve got a long list of my mistakes,” said the President.
Things got more contentious when O’Reilly asked about the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi and the IRS scandal. “So there was no mass corruption?” O’Reilly asked about the 2013 IRS debacle. “There were some boneheaded decisions,” said the president, “[But] not even a smidgeon of corruption.”
“I know you think maybe we haven’t been fair, but I think your heart is in the right place,” said O’Reilly to Obama.
As he was getting the wrap from Fox Sports producers, he tried to get the president to pick a Super Bowl winner. “I think it’s going to be 24-21. But I don’t know who’s going to be 24 and who’s going to be 21,” said Obama.
A second interview, which will air on tomorrow’s “O’Reilly Factor,” was recorded after the live interview. Watch today’s interview after the jump…