Thursday on Fox News Channel’s “The O’Reilly Factor,” host Bill O’Reilly used his “Talking Points Memo” segment to criticize President Barack Obama for his reluctance to use the phrase “Islamic terrorism” and for his reasoning behind not doing so.
Transcript as follows:
President Obama’s last stand. That is the subject of this evening’s Talking Points Memo. Just 40 days left before Barack Obama becomes a lame duck president. So last night he participated in a town hall among friendly folks. The President dealt with many issues. But two of them caught my attention. First, why he doesn’t say the words Islamic terrorism.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I learned from listening to some of these Muslim families both in the United States and overseas is that when you start calling these organizations Islamic terrorists, the way it’s heard, the way it’s received by our friends and allies around the world is that somehow Islam is terroristic. And that then makes them feel as if they are under attack.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’REILLY: Now, with all due respect to Mr. Obama, that is a naive view of the world. Everybody knows most Muslims are not violent people. However, many Muslim nations contribute heavily to terrorism. Iran, for example is, a rogue country that actually helps terrorists kill people. Pakistan allows the worst jihadists to live on its soil and plot their murderous scenarios. Saudi Arabia allows radical Muslim preachers to indoctrinate children with hatred against non-Muslims.
And in Africa, there are a number of governments that allow Muslim killers free reign. So the Jihad is not an aberration. It is a well-financed, well-organized movement that has gained support among a significant number of Muslims worldwide. That’s the truth. By being soft on the Jihad. By failing to confront the worldwide evil. President Obama has allowed ISIS and other groups to gain strength. It is a fact that some young Muslims believe the Jihad is winning because it has not been crushed as it should have been.
There is no question that Barack Obama is sympathetic to the peaceful Muslim world. And that’s not a bad thing. We need allies like Jordan, Egypt and Morocco. Those countries help us and we should not alienate them. But any rational Muslim is not going to take offense at the words Islamic terrorism. Why? Because that would be irrational. While visiting France this summer I saw it firsthand how the French people are generally turned against all Muslims.
You can hear and feel the bitterness over the ISIS attacks also because of mass Muslim immigration into France. Some of that bitterness is not rationale and could be mitigated if the French Muslim population would outwardly condemn the Jihad. That has not happened to any meaningful extent. And all over the world many Muslims stay silent. President Obama’s primary obligation is to protect the American people. A strong argument can be made that he has not, not done that effectively. The enemy needs to be defined, Mr. President.
And if some people get their feelings hurt, then that’s too bad. The second thing that caught my attention in the town hall was disrespect toward the U.S.A. As you know some Americans believe this is not a noble country that blacks, for example are treated harshly by the system simply because of their skin color. The football player Colin Kaepernick believes that and so he is disrespecting the national anthem. Few other athletes have followed him and some kids have as well. Mr. Obama addressed it.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: So, I want Mr. Kaepernick and others who are on a knee, I want them to listen to the pain that that may cause somebody who, for example, had a spouse or child who was killed in combat and why it hurts them to see somebody not standing. But I also want people to think about the pain that he may be expressing about somebody who has lost a loved one that they think was unfairly shot.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’REILLY: That is a false equivalence that Mr. Obama is putting forth. Issues of police shootings, for example, should be dealt with on a case-by- case basis. No system is perfect. There are bad law enforcement officers in this country. And that should not be tolerated. However, the overriding nobility of America far outweighs individual bias and terrible mistakes on the part of a few police officers. Colin Kaepernick and others who despise their own country do have a right to vent.
But by taking things out of context. By diminishing the proud history of this country and freeing millions of people all over the world. Those anti-American displays insult us. President Obama should not equate personal disenchantment with mistakes, even fatal ones, when it comes to respecting the legacy of this country. President Obama did redeem himself somewhat by saying this.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
OBAMA: I believe that us honoring our flag and our anthem is part of what binds us together as a nation and I think that for me, for my family, for those who work in the White House, we recognize what it means to us but also what it means to the men and women who are fighting on our behalf.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
O’REILLY: Okay. The mark of strong leadership and that’s what we need in this country is strong leadership is to take a stand. Mr. Obama understands that diminishing America is a bad choice but somehow he always equivocates and does not make his points with certainty and clarity. There are not two sides to this story. America is a noble nation, period. Those who dissent have to be tolerated, but you don’t have to applaud that dissent, if it is misguided and uninformed. As for the Jihad, it should have been defeated a long time ago.
A strong leader would have done that or am I wrong? And that’s the memo.
Follow Jeff Poor on Twitter @jeff_poor
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