Cheney: President Obama 'worst president in my lifetime'

Former Vice President criticizes President Obama in interview with Playboy magazine

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," March 18, 2015. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.
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O'REILLY: "Impact Segment" tonight, blistering attack on President Obama by former Vice President Dick Cheney. It's contained in an interview with Mr. Cheney in "Playboy Magazine". Thank God there is no pictorial. And Mr. Cheney's disenchantment with President Obama is not new.

Here is what he said on FNC last year.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

DICK CHENEY, FORMER VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: He is a very, very weak president, maybe the weakest certainly in my lifetime. And I know from my own experience, on a recent trip to the Middle East, spending several days talking with folks I've dealt with all the way back to Desert Storm. They all are absolutely convinced that the American capacity to lead and to influence events in that part of the world has been dramatically reduced by this president.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

O'REILLY: Joining us now from Tampa Democratic strategist Jessica Ehrlich; and here in New York, Andrea Tantaros, co-host of "OUTNUMBERED".

So according to Mr. Cheney -- I know you don't read "Playboy" but I did read the interview today.

ANDREA TANTAROS, FOX NEWS HOST: Thank you, Bill, for reading "Playboy" for me. Thank you.

O'REILLY: You're welcome. That is my job. I have to do it.

TANTAROS: For gutting through those pictures. Just the articles, just for the article.

JESSICA EHRLICH, DEMOCRATIC STRATEGIST:

O'REILLY: Listen, you know, I'm not offended by "Playboy". Sometimes they do good work. They interviewed me a long time ago. They're ok.

But according to the vice president, President Obama is worse than Warren Harding, James Buchanan, Andrew Johnson and Franklin Pierce combined. I think it just might be a little bit of an overstatement based on ideology, am I wrong?

TANTAROS: I don't think you're wrong. I do agree with Dick Cheney that he is one of the worst presidents -- no question. I think there are comparisons early on to Jimmy Carter but I think Cheney's right. And I think the point that he made in the article where he says that our friends no longer trust us and our adversaries no longer fear us is not hyperbole though. I think this is right on point.

And Cheney, I'm sure he goes on for hours. Because he sat with James Rosen for 10 hours on the story.

O'REILLY: Yes. But it's interesting.

TANTAROS: To list what he'd done and specifically, Bill, he points to the military and how he has (inaudible) --

O'REILLY: Yes. He is mad about that.

TANTAROS: -- our military and how he has put us in a very precarious position. And I think that that, above other presidents, he has done the worst job.

O'REILLY: What Rosen did not do though was, Jessica, just for your side, he didn't challenge Cheney about the chain reaction of Iraq that has caused unintended consequences, even when Bush the younger and Cheney were in office. The unintended consequences of that invasion were staggering for America.

And then he didn't get into that -- you know. And that is not an excuse for President Obama's performance, which I believe has been very weak, particularly abroad. I mean I just think as I said to Barney Frank last night, there isn't anything you can -- not one accomplishment, not one Jessica -- and if you have one I want to hear it right now -- of President Obama's foreign policy, which includes Hillary Clinton as secretary of state. There is nothing to point to, is there?

EHRLICH: Well, I think actually he has accomplished the goals that he set out --

O'REILLY: What? Give me one. Give me one accomplishment that has made this country better overseas.

EHRLICH: He wanted to withdraw the troops from Iraq.

O'REILLY: And guess what is happening in Iraq now? Is it a better situation?

EHRLICH: That is the consequence but this is what he set out to do and that's what the American people wanted him to do. He said that he'll be going to --

O'REILLY: Ok. That is not what the President is in office to do. The president is in office to do -- make the country stronger. And just by your presence because you are a smart woman -- Barney Frank couldn't give me one and you can't give me one either. Not one accomplishment in six years overseas --

EHRLICH: Let's say Osama bin Laden.

O'REILLY: He had nothing to do with that. That was U.S. Intel and the Navy SEALs taking them out. He just said do it. Come on.

EHRLICH: Well, it happened under his watch.

O'REILLY: So what.

EHRLICH: It happened under his watch.

O'REILLY: All right -- fine. If that is what he's got after six years, it is dismal.

EHRLICH: I think regardless of whether or not you agree with the foreign policy that he has or taken particularly since the Arab Spring, I think he has been remarkably consistent in terms of what he said he was going to do and what he has done, including this current Iran negotiations for nuclear weapons.

O'REILLY: We have to see about that, Jessica. We don't know yet.

EHRLICH: We don't know the outcome of it, but it is what he said he is going to work on and do and it is exactly what he has done.

O'REILLY: All right, let me go after Andrea now. Now, Dick Cheney, he despises Barack Obama -- all right. I think it's personal.

TANTAROS: I think the feeling is probably mutual.

O'REILLY: I would agree, all right, because they're so opposite in their view of the world. There's never going to be detente. Ever.

Cheney is a tough guy and he wants to wield U.S. power. Obama feels that U.S. power is part of the problem in the world. All right? So what is the point in -- I don't know what the point is. If I were Dick Cheney I would have just taken apart every single policy. I would have never talked about Barack Obama as being weak or this or that. I would have said here is the policy on Egypt. Here's the policy on Russia. That is what I did with frank last night -- bing, bing, bing, bing, bing. Isn't it much better than getting into personalities?

TANTAROS: Look, I think that he had to weigh into his personality because that plays a huge role in why we're seeing such failure. I mean especially in the Arab Spring. When you mentioned the Arab Spring Bill, in Egypt -- I mean Jessica says he has been consistent. The only thing he has been consistent about is backing the wrong horse. He had Hosni Mubarak --

O'REILLY: No, you're wrong.

TANTAROS: Well -- how? The Muslim Brotherhood rose up. Yes, Gadhafi is brushed aside.

O'REILLY: Can I tell you now?

TANTAROS: Libya's worse.

O'REILLY: Can I tell you now.

TANTAROS: Go for it.

O'REILLY: President Obama has been consistent in doing nothing.

TANTAROS: That is not true. That is not true. He never --

O'REILLY: He withdraws.

TANTAROS: No, that is not true. That's not true.

O'REILLY: He withdraws.

TANTAROS: He meddles in Egypt. He meddles in Libya where bad guys were who actually kept the peace --

O'REILLY: I told him about the Muslim Brotherhood.

TANTAROS: He meddled in Afghanistan, and now he has a second Iraq war.

O'REILLY: All right.

Now, you say he has been consistent, I only have 30 seconds left, Jessica. I say he has been consistent, I agree with you. He doesn't do anything. He lets ISIS run wild. He lets the Taliban out and trades them for Bowe Bergdahl and then we can't find out what Bowe Bergdahl did. He doesn't do anything. He just sits there. I mean -- right.

EHRLICH: I don't think he just sits there. But I think there's some disagreement on the policies he's taken going forward. And actually, there are things that he has been working on. We'll see what happens in the long-term. I know the next two years are going to be --

O'REILLY: It is more than six years. He only has eight years.

EHRLICH: He is never going to be -- he's never going to have -- he is not a hawk, so in terms of whether it is war hawkish and for --

O'REILLY: There's no strategy. Look, I just want you both to know. There's no strategy --

EHRLICH: He just said on Monday his strategy was to get certain things done, small steps to cause no harm basically.

O'REILLY: That is my strategy.

TANTAROS: Go home and read "Playboy", Bill.

O'REILLY: That's my strategy -- cause no harm.

All right, ladies.

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