Update: Media Matters has uncovered a 2006 clip from Bill O'Reilly's radio show in which O'Reilly said, "if I could get my hands on Tiller."
His full comments:
OK. So, I'm the fascist, I'm the bad guy, I'm the problem. Not Tiller. No, he -- no, no, no. He's a good guy. Now, Tiller's pumping all kinds of money into obviously the attorney general race. He wants the guy that's gonna let him off the hook to win. Those of you listening in Kansas, you ought to know that. You know, I don't -- I'm not gonna tell you who to vote for. You guys know these guys better than I do, but I tell you what, anything Tiller wants, I'm voting the other way. And if I could get my hands on Tiller -- well, you know. Can't be vigilantes. Can't do that. It's just a figure of speech.
But despicable? Oh, my God. Oh, it doesn't get worse. Does it get worse? No.
Listen:
Original Post: While many Americans may never have heard of Kansas abortion doctor George Tiller, who was killed Sunday, his name -- and nickname, "Tiller the Baby-Killer" -- should be familiar to viewers of Fox News' "O'Reilly Factor." Salon's Gabriel Winant reports that Bill O'Reilly has mentioned Tiller on 29 episodes since 2005, most recently in April of this year.
"There's no other person who bears as much responsibility for the characterization of Tiller as a savage on the loose, killing babies willy-nilly thanks to the collusion of would-be sophisticated cultural elites, a bought-and-paid-for governor and scofflaw secular journalists" than O'Reilly, Winant writes.
Some of the things O'Reilly has said of Tiller, according to Salon:
- He "destroys fetuses for just about any reason right up until the birth date for $5,000."
- He's guilty of "Nazi stuff,"
- a moral equivalent to NAMBLA and al-Qaida
- "This is the kind of stuff that happened in Mao's China, Hitler's Germany, Stalin's Soviet Union"
- "operating a death mill"
- "has blood on his hands"
- "executing babies about to be born"
Watch Salon's collection of clips:
Watch Daily Kos' collection of clips:
Watch a 2006 segment:
Watch an ambush segment from earlier this year:
TVNewser reports that O'Reilly will address Tiller's murder on the Factor Monday night.