In a live interview with Yahoo News global news anchor Katie Couric, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly defended the seemingly non-stop news coverage of Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump. “He’s a phenomenon, this man,” O’Reilly said. “How do you under-cover a phenomenon?”
O’Reilly, who welcomed Trump back to Fox News Tuesday night after a six-day boycott of the network, said Trump earned the two blocks of coverage he got on O’Reilly’s show Tuesday, in part because of the feud with Fox News. “He was mad at us, and now he’s back,” said O’Reilly.
O’Reilly said he’s known Trump “a long time” and enjoys his company, both on camera and off. “He’s entertaining and he’s energetic and he’s knowledgable. And that’s what I look for when I want to hang out with somebody.”
Asked about Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, O’Reilly said “I love Bernie,” and enjoyed having him on his show–though he has refused to give O’Reilly an interview since he began his presidential campaign. “He doesn’t want to get his far-left kooks angry at him, so he won’t come on.”
Of Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton, O’Reilly said Clinton would face a tough competitor should Joe Biden enter the race, but will struggle nonetheless to win the White House. “I think it’s going to be very hard for her to win the presidency with all of the stuff following her around.”