SIX DEGREES: Jon Stewart joins Bill O’Reilly on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ – Full and Unedited Interview
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The meeting of liberal comedian Jon Stewart from ‘The Daily Show with Jon Stewart’ and right-wing pundit Bill O’Reilly on ‘The O’Reilly Factor’ was anticipated enough by Stewart fans that many braved the Fox News network to get a glimpse of this modern-day Clash of the Titans. However, we like our readers too much to subject them to such torture, so we tracked down the full length video, provided courtesy of Fox News. [blech]
The interview has generated a ton of post mortem discussion about the politics of the situation both in the mainstream media and the blogosphere, and who “won” the interview. Then again, apparently Jon is quite aware of such discussion. However, I have concluded, as Henry Kissinger might say, America won this round.
Here’s a collection of articles that you might want to check out that have discussed the interview:
- Stewart on O’Reilly, Unedited: Worth the 42 Minutes – Time Magazine
- Jon Stewart and Bill O’Reilly: More compatible than you think? – Christian Science Monitor
- In Visit to Fox News, Jon Stewart Faults Fox News – New York Times
- Jon Stewart vs. Bill O’Reilly: Did O’Reilly win the bout on points? – LA Times
And for your viewing pleasure, please watch the interview in its entirety, and feel free to comment on your opinion of how Jon did in the comments.
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21 Comments
February 6th, 2010 at 12:31 am
ahh, that was pretty fun! I hadn’t watched any of this previously so it was good to see it all in one place. I wish Jon had provided more examples of Obama’s accomplishment and failures. I’m not saying I could, but I’m not following him at a professional level either.
I was sorry to hear that O’Reilly doesn’t like Colbert!
the Tony Dow comment at the very end made me laugh! I used to watch Leave it to Beaver on TV Land SO MUCH! then again I used to watch The Factor on Fox News a lot too…not my choice, obviously, because I can’t stand cable news these days.
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February 6th, 2010 at 10:24 am
I wonder about that Colbert comment since it was thrown in at the end and he didn’t elaborate. I wonder if by slighting Stephen he thought he could get one more dig in at Jon?! Either way, I was surprised to hear it. To quote Jerry’s mom on “Seinfeld” – *How could anybody not like him!?* :)
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February 6th, 2010 at 11:25 am
I’m pretty sure he was just being sarcastic. He seems to genuinely like both Jon and Stephen.
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February 6th, 2010 at 12:47 pm
really? you are probably right about that. I sometimes miss things like that, because you do get some people who really don’t like Colbert, so I’m never sure.
February 7th, 2010 at 5:10 pm
Yeah, I think he was being sarcastic. Stephen once said that O’Reilly said to him that he liked him. I think O’Reilly personally likes him, but Stephen just steals his thunder professionally as far as showmanship goes:)
February 6th, 2010 at 12:31 am
I can only aspire to be as articulate and quick witted as Jon. He never fails to impress.
I don’t think anybody “won” here. It was just a conversation, not so much a debate. Nothing to win really.
Thanks so much for posting the entire interview. There were a lot of gems here that didn’t get aired. Maybe it’s me, maybe it’s that the rest of Fox has fallen even further into the depths of insanity, but I don’t find O’Reilly nearly as repulsive as I used to.
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February 6th, 2010 at 1:25 am
This has rekindled my love of Jon Stewart. Seriously, just fantasic.
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February 6th, 2010 at 2:24 am
The unedited interview was so much more satisfying than the edited. My favorite part was when they started talking about Barack Obama and socialism:
O’Reilly: In a socialist country, the government pays for all of these entitlements
Stewart: Who pays for Medicare?
O’Reilly: The government pays for it.
Stewart: Who pays for Medicaid?
O’Reilly: The government pays for it.
Stewart: Who pays for Social Security? So we’re socialists.
O’Reilly: But now we’re on Medicare and Medicaid with steroids. Like the new health care bill. That’s steroids.
Stewart: Once again, this is like the old joke. ‘Would you sleep with me for 10 dollars?’ ‘No.’ ‘Would you sleep with me for a million?’ ‘Okay.’ ‘So now we know what you are. We’re just negotiating price.’
I’m always amazed how quickly Jon can come up with a joke to fit the occasion that illustrates his point perfectly.
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February 6th, 2010 at 5:37 am
I love how you can hear the camera crew laughing at Jon’s quips. You know they know that he’s right.
And the showing of the unedited clip compared to what was shown on the Factor is a beautiful example of how they define what is supposed to be “fair and balanced”.
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February 6th, 2010 at 1:02 pm
I agree — I loved how O’Reilly says at the end “You’re out of touch with the folks,” and yet, you can hear his whole crew laugh hysterically throughout his interview. Um, not so much, Bill.
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February 6th, 2010 at 11:55 am
Just because McCain and Cheney wouldn’t go on his show is not proof that Fox doesn’t cater to the GOP since there are other reason why they didn’t want to go his show.
Also Jon would give Bill more respect as an equal that Stephen wouldn’t since Stephen can always out ego and out pompous him that’s why he doesn’t like Stephen because Stephen wouldn’t take Bill seriously or even Bush at the WHCD
I did like Jon’s take about Global Warming and they should’ve gone into more the difference between what the problem is serious but what they have proposed as solutions have been silly.
I agree with him that pumping toxins into the air, water and land for decades would have an effect but proposing “cap and trade” or “carbon credits” isn’t an efficient solution since they a lot like “indulgences” for sins the Christians used.
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February 6th, 2010 at 1:04 pm
Ya know why O’Reilly claims to not like Stephen? Because O’Reilly has absolutely no ability to laugh at himself. Period.
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February 7th, 2010 at 4:53 pm
Amen, my Twitter sista! ;)
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February 6th, 2010 at 4:44 pm
I agree with Lilimich. I think it’s harder for O’Reilly to handle Stephen because it’s more personal. O’Reilly can handle discussing politics with Stewart. Stephen, however, represents basically the dismantling of O’Reilly’s status quo. O’Reilly honestly believes that he’s DOING SOMETHING IMPORTANT (PLEASE LET MY EXISTENCE MATTER!) and Stephen completely (if you’ll excuse the expression) takes the piss out of O’Reilly’s game.
That’s part of the reason why I like the whole feeding baby food to the Grammy thing. Not only is it ridiculous but it also takes the Grammy people down a few notches. I love Stephen going after anyone who takes themselves too seriously.
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February 6th, 2010 at 8:47 pm
Absolutely!!
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February 7th, 2010 at 8:49 pm
“Stephen, however, represents basically the dismantling of O’Reilly’s status quo.”
I agree! Actually, I agree with this whole post. :)
I loved when Stephen started feeding baby food to his Grammy, too. It was so absurd, which totally fits the show. Seeing Stephen take “Stephen’s” ego and love of awards or praise to the farthest possible end of the spectrum was pure joy.
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February 7th, 2010 at 3:47 pm
i hate how oreilly was condascending towards jon most of the time… I dont know, that man is sleazy…
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February 7th, 2010 at 5:11 pm
I think that’s part of his schtick, but it’s nauseating. How can you garner anyone’s respect by calling someone a pinhead?
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February 7th, 2010 at 8:39 pm
yeah. i guess. his shtick is revolting. he’s bombastic, arrogant, and did not know how to respond to any of jon’s points of inaccuracy or hypocricy. “oh, i don’t think that’s true… we did cover it…” yeah, right oreilly. oh, and whats the deal with trashing jon’s audience over and over again? it was so unfunny. alas, mr. oreilly, keep your day job if you must. leave the comedy for jon.
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February 7th, 2010 at 4:58 pm
Yeah, Jon’s out of touch w/ the folks. He’s on the same network as Larry the Cable Guy. I’m sure Jon’s NEVER seen his act *sarcasm*
Excuse Jon for giving his people more credit when it comes to cultural references. We should only deal in insipid, absolute lowest common denominator Leno-style mockery…. for Bill O’s audience’s sake.
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February 9th, 2010 at 5:05 pm
Fascinating interview, and I’m understanding a lot more of the political way of the USA.
I think O’Reilly was saying he didn’t like “Stephen Colbert” and Jon took it that he meant Stephen Colbert, the man.
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