CEO resigns after gay-marriage controversy
Bernie Goldberg weighs in on the Mozilla free speech debate and the search for the missing jetliner
This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," April 7, 2014. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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O'REILLY: Thanks for staying with us. I'm Bill O'Reilly.
In the "Weekdays with Bernie" segment tonight, the CEO of Mozilla, an Internet company, Brendan Eich, has been forced to resign because he gave a $1,000-donation to support traditional marriage back in 2008. "Media Buzz" on Fox News dealt with the controversy yesterday.
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JOHN ARAVOSIS, GAY RIGHTS ACTIVIST AND BLOGGER: Would you have a holocaust-denier as a CEO of a company or do you --
AMY HOLMES, THE BLAZE TV NEWS ANCHOR: I don't want --
LAUREN ASHBURN, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: That's incomparable. That's the holocaust, John. No.
ARAVOSIS: Wait a minute -- wait a minute. We are talking about whether there is unfettered free speech for corporate CEOs.
HOLMES: Of course, there is. But you're asking if --
ARAVOSIS: So, now, we're just saying Eich -- if you think a holocaust denier shouldn't -- if you think a holocaust denier shouldn't be the CEO then there --
ASHBURN: How can you equate gay rights with the holocaust.
ARAVOSIS: Because you said there is an --
ASHBURN: That's outrageous.
ARAVOSIS: It is outrageous. And you said that, under no circumstances, should a CEO not get his job because of his political positions. I am saying that we actually all agree that, under some circumstances, he should not.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O'REILLY: And, of course, the guy was comparing the holocaust to gay rights. Joining us now from Miami, the purveyor of BernardGoldberg.com, Mr. Goldberg. And you say?
BERNIE GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I say, Bill, that if you lose your job because you have an incorrect position on same-sex marriage, then that's a pretty good example --
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-- of liberal intolerance. This is what liberal orthodoxy looks like.
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That on certain issues like same-sex marriage, you're expected to march in locked step. And if you don't, you will be purged.
You may lose your job as this man did at Mozilla but you'll certainly -- you'll certainly be called a bigot. And what's interesting is that the people at Mozilla, the liberals who work at Mozilla and at other places like that, they worship at the altar of diversity -- skin color diversity, ethnic diversity, sexual orientation diversity.
But there's one kind of diversity they won't tolerate, diversity of opinion on matters that are important to them. And that's why I think those liberals have forgotten how to be liberal.
Bill, one point, very quickly. For the record, I support same-sex marriage. I have no problem with it. I think it's a good thing. And I think people on the other side are on the wrong side of history.
But I'm not an ayatollah. Unless somebody is an out-and-out bigot who just hates gay people, let them have their say. That's what this country is about. And that's what some liberals don't quite understand.
O'REILLY: OK. Now, this Mozilla outfit, they are driving people to certain Web sites and machinery.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
It's a consumer-oriented thing, right. That's how they make their money?
GOLDBERG: They make a Web browser called Firefox. If you want to get on the Internet, there are a number of ways you can do it. And Firefox is one of the more popular ways to do it.
O'REILLY: All right. So, they make their money by people coming in - -
(END VIDEO CLIP)
-- and using their services, correct?
GOLDBERG: Yes.
O'REILLY: All right. So, in a democracy, if you see something wrong, then you want to send a message that you would like that to be corrected.
So, the way to do that -- because this is what the other side does, "Well, if you don't -- if you don't fire your CEO," --
GOLDBERG: Right.
O'REILLY: -- "OK, Eich, then we're not going to use your services." That's why he got fired.
What about the traditional people going, "You know, you fired the guy and you were wrong for doing it, you violated every right he has in America. So, we're not going to use your service. We're not going to do it." See, doesn't that have to happen to balance stuff out here?
GOLDBERG: Just to set the records straight so you don't get criticized, he didn't get fired. There was a --
O'REILLY: Oh, come on, he resigned. Why would you want him to resign a big-buck job like that. Come on.
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GOLDBERG: Let me finish. Technically, he didn't get fired. There was an employee revolt and he certainly was forced out.
O'REILLY: Employee revolt.
GOLDBERG: But there are some slivers of --
O'REILLY: Come on.
GOLDBERG: He was forced out.
O'REILLY: All right.
GOLDBERG: OK, you want to get it wrong. It's your show, get it wrong.
O'REILLY: I want to get it wrong.
GOLDBERG: I don't give a damn, OK.
O'REILLY: You know me, I'm simple man and I don't buy any of that. The guys that hold the power in the company said, "We don't like this guy's opinion. He's out. Goodbye."
GOLDBERG: OK, fine. You're right. I'm wrong. Fine, that's fine. There are slivers of sunshine here. It isn't just conservatives. It isn't just people like you or me who are saying, "This is not right."
Andrew Sullivan, the intellectual father of same-sex marriage, in 1989, he wrote the first piece advocating same-sex marriage. He says, "This is disgusting." He's gay. Tammy Bruce, our friend, Tammy Bruce who does a radio show, --
O'REILLY: Right.
GOLDBERG: -- she's also openly gay. She calls this the gay Gestapo. They made a big mistake at Mozilla. They want to force somebody out because of his views.
Liberals are supposed to be the ones who are open-minded, who are tolerant. They tell us that all the time. But, on certain issues, they're intolerant and they're closed-minded.
They are as bad as the hard right is that they're always criticizing. That's the irony of this whole thing.
O'REILLY: Well, they don't care, number one. And, number two, I do believe that most gay Americans think this is horrible. I bet you, if you did a poll, 75 percent --
GOLDBERG: You know, I think you're right.
O'REILLY: -- seventy-five percent would say, "We don't want that." And that's what I think. All right, Bernie --
GOLDBERG: I think you're right and I think -- I think you're right and I think that's a good thing.
O'REILLY: I like it when you say, "I think you're right." You did that like four, five times in this segment, so that's really good and I like your --
GOLDBERG: I think you're right.
O'REILLY: Yes, there you go.
GOLDBERG: I think you're right.
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