Bill O’Reilly of “The O’Reilly Factor” fame said his conservative colleagues on the airwaves have been proven right on the president on at least one point: Mr. Obama isn’t as competent as some would believe.
Mr. O’Reilly made the remark while discussing how some on the right in the business of opining have oftentimes gone beyond logical criticism of the president and taken more partisan jabs that don’t advance intelligent discussion, Newsmax reported.
“The personal stuff doesn’t amount to much,” he said. “[Obama’s] not a Muslim. He wasn’t born in Kenya. He has never done anything nefarious.”
But criticisms centered on the core ability of the president to govern “are turning out to be somewhat valid, [and] competency” is proving Mr. Obama’s biggest problem, Mr. O’Reilly said, Newsmax reported.
“You may remember that the radio guys pointed out that Barack Obama had little experience running anything, that he was basically a community organizer and a theoretician. … That seems to be accurate,” he said, and the president’s problem-solving abilities are “dubious” at best, Newsmax reported.
One example: Mr. Obama’s failure to speedily fix the Veterans Affairs troubles, Mr. O’Reilly cited.
“Look, you can’t rebut what Monica [Crowley] and others said on the radio turned out to be correct,” he said.
Mr. O’Reilly’s admission comes just a few days after he angered many on the right for characterizing the likes of Rush Limbaugh as a farce.
Specifically, Mr. O’Reilly told a New York City crowd: “I’m not Rush Limbaugh or Al Franken, where everything has to fit into my worldview. I’m a fact-based guy. A lot of people don’t understand that.”
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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