Bernie Goldberg agreed and added the media elite "were never concerned" about constant references to Bush as a Nazi. Accentuating O’Reilly’s point that Democratic presidential candidates attended the DailyKos convention, Goldberg also reminded the audience that these same candidates boycotted Fox News. Goldberg concluded "case closed. That’s all you need to know about that."
On the topic of the media’s love affair with Barack Obama, Goldberg noted their current disdain for McCain despite a very strong past relationship. The former CBS reporter noted "the only time the media has been in love...with John McCain...is when he’s sticking a thumb in some Republican’s eye." Bernard Goldberg recalled very different (as in positive) treatment of McCain when working with Ted Kennedy and Russ Feingold on more liberal legislative initiatives.
The transcript follows.
BILL O’REILLY: Now, homestretch, three weeks, 80 percent of the press, we’ve evaluated, has been rooting for Obama from the, from the jump pretty much. Are they, are the pro-Obama media going to change tactics in the last three weeks or will they just same old, same old?
BERNARD GOLDBERG: I, I think they’re not going to change tactics. I think the media, the so-called mainstream media has been on team Obama from jump street, from the very beginning. Look, "Saturday Night Live," it took "Saturday Night Live" to make fun of the media and say "look, look how easy they’re going on Obama versus Hillary Clinton." And the reason for that I think is that to liberals whether they’re inside or outside of the media race chumps- trumps gender. And then when, when Obama went up against McCain, well that was easy. They always side with the Democrat over the Republican. Let, let’s just cut to the point here Bill. The only time the media has been in love as they say with John McCain, the only time, is when he’s sticking a thumb in some Republican’s eye, when he allies himself with the most liberal members of the Senate, whether it’s Russ Feingold or Teddy Kennedy.
O’REILLY: Yeah, on the immigration thing and they’re not going to-
GOLDBERG: That’s the only time the media loves him.
O’REILLY: They loved him on the immigration thing because they didn’t want him to really crack down.
GOLDBERG: That’s right.
O’REILLY: Now here’s interesting- in my "Talking Points Memo" I made the, I think, valid point that you have the DailyKos and it doesn’t get more vicious. Would you agree with that?
GOLDBERG: I, I not only agree, but when I wrote the book "100 People Screwing up America," long before all of this stuff, I had Markos Moulitsas, the head of The DailyKos, as one of the people screwing up America.
O’REILLY: Okay, so you’ve got that thing and it’s on display every day and then all of the Democratic candidates, except Biden who couldn’t work it into his schedule. It wasn’t- he didn’t object to them. They all go and pay their respects to their convention, and not a drop from the media, not a thing, don’t say anything. Then you have some yahoo’s at, at a McCain rally screaming bad things about Obama and therefore Obama is fostering and encouraging hatred, but the people who actually go and travel to a Kos convention get a complete pass. Am I living in the Twilight Zone here Bernie?
GOLDBERG: No, no, no, no, no. It’s an excellent point, and you know I don’t blow smoke at you Bill. It’s an excellent point and it is a perfect example of how corrupt the media has become. I don’t remember the sensitive media types worrying when George Bush was called a Nazi, when Dick Cheney was called a criminal and a Fascist. They were never concerned about that. And The DailyKos, let me tell you, it was nasty long before, you know, the past year. These are bad guys. And, and the very same presidential candidates who, who had to pay homage to these people wouldn’t come on Fox and have a debate. They stayed away from Fox, but they went to the DailyKos. Case closed. That’s all you need to know about it.
