Bill O'Reilly Responds to Jon Stewart Slamming Fox News Over Common Controversy

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," May 12, 2011. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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BILL O'REILLY, HOST: In the "Impact" segment tonight: As we reported last night, the rapper Common appeared at the White House for a poetry reading at the invitation of first lady Michelle Obama. That was very controversial because Common has defended two cop killers, convicted cop killers.

David Jones, the head of a New Jersey State Troopers organization, is outraged that Common received the White House invitation:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DAVID JONES, PRESIDENT, NEW JERSEY STATE TROOPERS FRATERNAL ASSOCIATION: This is National Law Enforcement Memorial Week. People call it Police Week in Washington. This is when I'm going to put Trooper Castellano and a whole host of over 150 other agencies are going to put their police officers on a wall at Judiciary Square honoring their sacrifice to America dying in the line of duty as police officers. And on a Tuesday before the widows get there on a Wednesday, we have this mutt, this nitwit, this complete fraud and that's what he is.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: He was talking about Common. Now, predictably some on the left condemn the coverage of Common on Fox News, and I want to make one thing very, very clear. On "The Factor," we are not objecting to Common's style. We fought the good fight years ago against gangster rappers. He is not a gangster rapper, but now society has generally accepted all rappers. What we object to is that Common is sticking up for two convicted police killers. There is no way around that. It is incredible that the White House would honor a man who has that on his resume, is it not?

Now last night on his program, Jon Stewart avoided the cop killing deal, concentrating on the good he sees in Common:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JON STEWART, HOST, "THE DAILY SHOW": Basically what Common appears to be saying is, hey, you know that violence I was talking about earlier in my poem? Let's end that in our communities so our dreams can come true. It's a call for peace.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: OK, fine. I will take Mr. Stewart's word for it. And again, I'm not objecting to Common's poetry, just his pro-cop killer stance in two separate cases.

Stewart went on to say that singers like Johnny Cash and Ted Nugent use violent lyrics in their songs, and that's true. Stewart then linked Cash to George W. Bush and Nugent to some Fox News analysts. That is a classic defending dubious behavior, Common, by pointing to other dubious behavior, Cash and Nugent. That argument gets us nowhere.

Stewart then wrapped up his segment with another shot at Fox News:

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

STEWART: It's almost impossible to express how ridiculous this and you all are at this point. It's beyond a caricature of your own cartoon. I think the only way to get it across would be through a more artful medium, a more expressive form, perhaps a musical iteration of spoken word. This goes out to Fox News and all the pundits I address on tonight's show. Yo Fox, you create shocks with no awe. You dress like eagles but squawk like chicken hawks. You're pigeons on a statue leaving little puddles of lies behind you.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: No lies here, Jon. And I would like to debate you about the Common situation because it's important. This is far beyond dopey lyrics and dopey presentations. Again, we don't care about that.

What we do care about is the president of the United States understanding that there are elements in this country who are subversive. Imagine what the mothers of the slain police officers are thinking when they see a guy like Common in the White House. I mean, Joanne Chesimard, who killed the Jersey state trooper, Werner Foerster, was a member of the Black Liberation Army. And now she is living in Cuba. And Common thinks she is swell? Come on.

So with all due respect, I think Jon Stewart made a big mistake trying to run down Fox News and defend Common. And I look forward to Mr. Stewart coming on "The Factor" to discuss it.

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