Fox News and the White House have had some fierce battles over the past two years. Despite the tension, Bill O'Reilly's much-anticipated showdown with President Obama on Sunday started on a comparatively civil note.
O'Reilly thanked President Obama and his administration for helping rescue Fox News correspondent Greg Palkot and cameraman Olaf Wiig after they were attacked and detained last week in Cairo. Obama said his administration believes in "uphold[ing] the basic principle of free speech and freedom of the press," which he described as a "universal value we care about and I know Fox cares about."
That's quite a different view of Fox News than Obama offered in September. Back then, Obama told Rolling Stone that Rupert Murdoch's cable news network—which boasts commentators quick to dub the president a "socialist" or pushing socialist policies—is "destructive" for the country's growth.
The O'Reilly-Obama showdown wasn't all cozy, however; once the opening formalities were done, things started to heat up.
O'Reilly pressed Obama on Egypt and whether health care reform is constitutional before diving into an argument from another Murdoch organ, the Wall Street Journal. O'Reilly, quoting from the paper's conservative editorial page, asked if Obama if he's "a determined man of the left whose goal is to redistribute much larger levels of income across society."
Obama laughed off the question by telling O'Reilly that the Journal's editorial board would "probably paint [him] as a left wing guy," too. O'Reilly asked the question again and Obama—now taking it seriously—denied the paper's charge. You can watch the interview, courtesy of Fox Sports here.
The two also sparred over whether health care reform is a redistribution of wealth, before O'Reilly said "that a lot of Americans feel you're a big government liberal who wants to intrude on their freedom. Now, they also say that you've been moving—."
Obama again laughed off O'Reilly's question. This kind of provocative rhetoric wouldn't be out of place on Glenn Beck's show or in Fox News' prime-time line-up, but it's not every day the president is forced to respond to such viewpoints.
"I think that a lot of the folks who watch you, Bill, believe that," Obama said.
"They think way worse than me," O'Reilly responded.
"And I give you credit," Obama jumped in. "You've got a pretty big viewership. So you've been persuasive."
Indeed, among cable talk hosts, O'Reilly is number one. But will the Obama-O'Reilly sit-down be the "most watched interview in history," as the bombastic host predicted? We'll update with the hard numbers on that claim when yesterday's ratings are in.
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