Fox Sports aired Bill O’Reilly‘s sit-down interview with Pres. Trump just before 4 p.m. ET, during its extended Super Bowl Sunday coverage.
It’s the first time in 8 years the interview was taped ahead of time. Pres. Obama sat for live interviews with Matt Lauer, Katie Couric, Gayle King, and O’Reilly, among others over the previous 8 years, depending on which network had the rights to the game.
Among the topics of the 10-minute interview: a potential “collision course,” as O’Reilly called it, with Iran. Relations with Mexico. Trump says he likes the the president and loves the people. His assessment of Vladimir Putin. O’Reilly called him a killer, Trump shot back that “there are a lot of killers around.” Also on the agenda, sanctuary cities, tax reform, a replacement for Obamacare, and the immigration order. Because the interview was taped Friday, Trump’s reaction to a judge’s decision to lift the travel ban was not included.
O’Reilly pressed Trump on whether it’s “irresponsible of a president” to make claims he can’t back up with “data,” using Trump’s claim that 3 million people voted illegally in 2016. “You say things you can’t back up factually…some people are going to say it’s irresponsible of a president to say that. Is there any validity to that?” O’Reilly asked.
“Many people have said I’m right,” the president shot back. “Look, Bill, we can be babies, but you take a look at the registration, you have illegals, you have dead people, you have this — it’s really a bad situation. It’s really bad,” Trump said. “Forget that. Forget all of that. Just look at the registration,” Trump said adding he’s “going to set up a commission to be headed by Vice President Mike Pence” to “look at it very carefully.”
As for the game, O’Reilly reminded Trump that Bob Kraft, Bill Belichick and Tom Brady are “taking a lot of gas” because of Trump’s friendship with them all. “They’re taking a lot of heat. But they’re also getting a lot of popularity out of it,” Trump said.
“Fox Sports is demanding I ask you to make a prediction,” O’Reilly said wrapping up the interview. “I’ll say the Patriots will win… by 8 points.”
O’Reilly was given more than the allotted time during the Friday taping, just before Pres. Trump departed for Florida. He will air it in two more parts Monday and Tuesday night.
> Update: Trump actually wasn’t far off. In the first-ever overtime Super Bowl, the Patriots came from behind to beat the Falcons by 6 points.
What an amazing comeback and win by the Patriots. Tom Brady, Bob Kraft and Coach B are total winners. Wow!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 6, 2017