Bill O’Reilly Talks ‘Interesting Phenomenon’ Donald Trump on ‘Kimmel’
Bill O’Reilly tried to rationalize the message of Republican presidential hopeful — and frequent baseball game buddy — Donald Trump, and suggested the mogul’s chances of making it to November 2016 were slim during an appearance on Jimmy Kimmel Live! Monday.
O’Reilly, who’s set to host Trump again on his Fox News show, The O’Reilly Factor, this Thursday, quipped, “I have him on regularly, I’ve known him for 30 years. We actually go to sporting events, Yankee games, Knicks games, together — he always pays.”
While O’Reilly called Trump’s campaign “an interesting phenomenon,” he neither believed Trump’s bluster would cost the Republicans the election, nor that only conservatives were latching on to his message.
Citing a recent Census Bureau study that states the median household is 6.5 percent lower than 2007, before the recession, O’Reilly said: “That’s not a political issue, that’s a human being issue. We need to get this country on track, and we need to start to develop this country in a way that puts its dominance back. That’s what Trump is pushing, and that’s why his message is resonating.”
O’Reilly did argue that Trump must turn that message into something concrete if he hopes to stay in the race. The host noted Trump-mania would naturally simmer and Republican candidates offering solutions would rise over the course of the next few debates.
Kimmel, however, argued only one man could knock Trump off his pedestal: “I think it’s you,” he told O’Reilly, before asking, “Bill O’Reilly versus Donald Trump, who wins the nomination?”
O’Reilly deflected the question but, touting his masterful debating skills, said he could hold his own in a one-on-one with any candidate. “It’s my job to know what’s going on and I am a solution guy — this is how you solve the problem,” O’Reilly said before putting his qualifications in question by adding, “And some of Trump’s solutions are pretty good.”