Appearing on the Monday edition of The O’Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Charles Krauthammer and host Bill O’Reilly tore into President Obama for stating that the U.S. is now “the most respected country on Earth” thanks to his administration with Krauthammer openly wondering “what planet he's living on.”
Following a soundbite of Obama speaking earlier on Monday at the White House, O’Reilly expressed his clear disagreement by declaring that: “No, we’re not respected by Putin, we’re not respected by ISIS and other terrorists, so I don’t know what he is referring to.”
When O’Reilly turned to Krauthammer for comment, the syndicated columnist began by stating his confusion with the President’s statement before proceeding to blast him for asserting that the U.S. is currently “the most respected country on Earth” [emphasis mine]:
You wonder what world, what planet he's living on and it’s not just as you enumerated, our enemies who have respect for us. The Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians of course, ISIS, you can go all the way down. It is our allies. You think the Ukrainians respect us? Or the Pols? The Lithuanians? How about the Saudis? How about the Bahrainis? The King of Bahrain was supposed to come to the summit in Camp David with the President of the United States. He stiffs the President and foreign ministry of Bahrain issues a statement saying that on that day, where was the king? At a horse show in England. Now, if that's a sign of respect, we've got problems.
Continuing on that subject, Krauthammer raised another example in the form of Egypt where “[f]or the first time in 40 years, he goes to Moscow, looking for assistance and for weapons” after the U.S. had long held “a monopoly in that area” that’s now been replaced with “a revulsion against the United States because we have checked out under Obama.”
Krauthammer finished that thought by stating that Egypt serves as one of many “allies who’ve depended on us for so long are finding themselves left hanging in the wind.”
Turning to unrest in liberal American cities such as Baltimore, Chicago and New York City, O’Reilly asked Krauthammer whether he was correct in observing that, despite the increase in both crime and murder rates in those cities, “there doesn't seem to be a collective outrage among Americans yet about all of this deterioration.”
Agreeing with that statement, Krauthammer explained that “[t]his is a gradual process” as “[p]eople got used to the miracles that Giuliani, Bloomberg have brought with the broken windows policing and they are not quite experiencing the crash that is coming” before going on to diagnose what he and many others to be a “police strike” in certain American cities.
To further explain the deterioration, Krauthammer linked it back to Obama and his handling of foreign policy:
It was predictable when he started in 2009 but the effects take time. The reason that the country is beginning to realize how – what kind of distress we are in in our position abroad is because it takes time. Shows itself, in Ukraine, in the South China Sea. Shows itself with ISIS and beheading of Americans. It shows itself over time. That same thing is going to happen in the cities.
The relevant portions of the transcript from FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor on June 1 can be found below.
FNC’s The O’Reilly Factor
June 1, 2015
8:14 p.m. Eastern[ON-SCREEN HEADLINE CAPTION: Foreign Policy Mess]
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: People don't remember, when I came into office, the United States, in world opinion, ranked below China and just barely above Russia and today, once again, the United States is the most respected country on Earth and part of that, I think, is because of the work we did to reengage the world.
BILL O’REILLY: No, we’re not respected by Putin, we’re not respected by ISIS and other terrorists, so I don't know what he is referring to. Now Charles, who joins us from Washington. He’s the author of the book Things of That Matter, now out in paperback. Great Father's Day gift. Charles knows that throughout the last ten days or so, I've been doing the big picture on how things are going south in the USA, here, domestically, and overseas and that's the theme of the first part of this program tonight. You saw in three major cities, Chicago, New York, and Baltimore, it is absolute carnage now. 50 people a weekend getting shot, dead. Nothing being done, alright? And overseas, it is almost even worse over there. So, President Obama says things are great. What do you say?
CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: He says we're the most respected country in the world once again. You wonder what world, what planet he's living on and it’s not just as you enumerated, our enemies who have respect for us. The Chinese, the Russians, the Iranians of course, ISIS, you can go all the way down. It is our allies. You think the Ukrainians respect us? Or the Pols? The Lithuanians? How about the Saudis? How about the Bahrainis? The King of Bahrain was supposed to come to the summit in Camp David with the President of the United States. He stiffs the President and foreign ministry of Bahrain issues a statement saying that on that day, where was the king? At a horse show in England. Now, if that's a sign of respect, we've got problems.
O’REILLY: And Israel as well. They’ve – big, big problems.
KRAUTHAMMER: That goes without saying – look at Egypt. Where did the president of Egypt go several months ago? For the first time in 40 years, he goes to Moscow, looking for assistance and for weapons. We had a monopoly in that area of influence and that is not only gone and dissipated, but there's been a revulsion against the United States because we have checked out under Obama and these allies who’ve depended on us for so longer are finding themselves left hanging in the wind.
O’REILLY: Alright, now, we can see it, you and me and I think most Factor viewers who live in New York or Chicago or Baltimore certainly, we can see it right before our eyes. Rahm Emmanuel, Democrat Mayor of Chicago, re-elected, despite all of the dead bodies. I mean, this has been going on for years under his administration. He hasn't improved it one iota. He’s re-elected, okay? President Obama gets up there. Oh, hey, everything is good overseas, don’t worry about it. His party’s not outraged. Here in New York, De Blasio, yeah, his approval rating isn't going down, but there doesn't seem to be a collective outrage among Americans yet about all of this deterioration or am I wrong?
KRAUTHAMMER: Well, I think you're right, there is no outrage. This is gradual process. People got used to the miracles that Giuliani, Bloomberg have brought with the broken windows policing and they are not quite experiencing the crash that is coming, but essentially what you have in New York and Baltimore and other places is a police strike. It is not announced, probably isn't even organized, but a cop who feels that he doesn't have the Governor, the mayor and the attorney general behind him isn't going wade into a crowd of hostile people to uphold the abstraction of the law. This is pretty obvious and the effect of these things – it’s like the effect of Obama's withdraw of foreign policy. It was predictable when he started in 2009 but the effects take time. The reason that the country is beginning to realize how – what kind of distress we are in in our position abroad is because it takes time. Shows itself, in Ukraine, in the South China Sea. Shows itself with ISIS and beheading of Americans. It shows itself over time. That same thing is going to happen in the cities. I think if that De Blasio, if this continues over this trajectory, will not have an easy time. I don't think he’s going to have a chance at reelection.
