O'Reilly: Jon Stewart Doesn't Believe Everything He Says; Marketing to a 'Liberal Audience'

On Sunday’s broadcast of Fox News Channel’s “Media Buzz,” “The O’Reilly Factor” host Bill O’Reilly took a jab at Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart.

O’Reilly said Stewart was a “culturally” important figure but didn’t believe everything he says because he is marketing himself to a liberal audience.

Partial transcript as follows:

KURTZ: You love to take whacks at Jon Stewart and he, of course enjoys beating up on you and beating up on Fox. And whenever I’ve talked to Jon Stewart and other interviews, he often retreats to, “Well, I’m just a guy with a comedy show.” But at the same time, I think he’s an important social critic. Is he trying to have it both ways? 

O’REILLY: No, I think you’re overestimating his importance.

KURTZ: Why is that?

O’REILLY: I’ll be on Stewart next week. I think Stewart is a very, very smart man who is marketing himself to an extremely liberal audience — a young liberal audience. And he’s going to stay in that envelope so he’s successful and Comedy Central makes money. Does he believe everything he says? No. Is he a comedian primarily? Yes. Are you a pinhead if you believe what he says? Absolutely you are. 

KURTZ: There’s that pinhead word again. 

O’REILLY: Yeah. The last time I was on, I called his audience all stone slackers. That’s a large part of his audience. They’re out in the ozone. But I don’t — I don’t diminish him as a cultural figure. He is not a journalist figure, but culturally, he’s very important. 

KURTZ: Well, he can’t be totally inflating his importance or you wouldn’t be on the show. 

O’REILLY: I go on the show just to amuse myself, just to smack him around here and there, you know? Because who else is going to do that but me? No one. Most people are intimidated by him. A little whack here, a little whack there. So it’s more amusing than anything else. His audience, they’re not likely to buy my book, OK? But we get a segment on “The Factor” from it, so there’s a lot of cross-promotion. And it works.

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