O'Reilly to Coulter: “I don't even care, to tell you the truth” about Coulter's controversial comments

A Los Angeles Times article about Ann Coulter's recent appearance on CNBC, in which she said “we” Christians “just want Jews to be perfected,” reported that “Fox News did not rule out having her on as a guest again, but a network executive said if she came on she would be pressed about her statements.” Nevertheless, during Coulter's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor, her first appearance on a Fox News prime-time show since the day on which she made the comments, O'Reilly told her, “I don't even care” about those comments.


According to an October 13 Los Angeles Times article on Ann Coulter's recent controversial comments: “Fox News did not rule out having her on as a guest again, but a network executive said if she came on she would be pressed about her statements” on the October 8 edition of CNBC's The Big Idea, in which she said “we” Christians “just want Jews to be perfected.” But during a brief discussion of the controversy on the October 15 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly said, “I don't even care, to tell you the truth.” Coulter replied, “Either do I. You brought it up, and I'm not explaining myself.” Coulter's appearance on The O'Reilly Factor marked the first time she has appeared on Fox News since her October 8 comments aired.

Additionally, O'Reilly did not challenge Coulter's assertion during the segment that “the Orthodox Jews are all supporting me. They have some vague familiarity with the Old Testament and the New Testament.” Instead, O'Reilly responded: “The Orthodox Jews are supporting you. What does that mean?” Coulter replied, “This is not a Christian thing even here. This is way beyond that. This is the irreligious against the religious.” O'Reilly did not note that several Jewish organizations have denounced her comments, including the American Jewish Congress, the Anti-Defamation League, the American Jewish Committee, and the Simon Wiesenthal Center.

Additionally, although the introduction of the October 15 O'Reilly Factor included audio of Coulter's October 8 assertion that "[w]e believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws," O'Reilly did not air or discuss any of Coulter's other comments during his show.

As Media Matters for America documented, when Big Idea host Donny Deutsch asked Coulter, “If you had your way ... and your dreams, which are genuine, came true ... what would this country look like?” Coulter responded, “It would look like New York City during the [2004] Republican National Convention. In fact, that's what I think heaven is going to look like.” She described the convention as follows: “People were happy. They're Christian. They're tolerant. They defend America.” Deutsch then asked, “It would be better if we were all Christian?” to which Coulter responded, “Yes.” Later in the discussion, Deutsch said to her: "[Y]ou said we should throw Judaism away and we should all be Christians," and Coulter again replied, “Yes.” When pressed by Deutsch regarding whether she wanted to be like “the head of Iran” and “wipe Israel off the Earth,” Coulter stated: “No, we just want Jews to be perfected, as they say. ... That's what Christianity is. We believe the Old Testament, but ours is more like Federal Express. You have to obey laws.”

During the segment, O'Reilly asked Coulter, “You go on this dopey show. Why? Nobody watches this dopey show. Why are you wasting your time? Go out to dinner.” Coulter responded, presumably referring to Deutsch: “Because he's always amiable to me. A dunce, but an amiable dunce.” O'Reilly later said, also presumably referring to Deutsch, “I don't want to mention his name. He's just a twerp.” As Media Matters noted, on the October 11 broadcast of Steve Malzberg's WOR (New York) radio show, Coulter said: “I don't think most Jews are as stupid as Donny Deutsch.”

From the October 15 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: All right, now. You go on this dopey show. Why? Nobody watches this dopey show. Why are you wasting your time? Go out to dinner.

COULTER: Because he's always been amiable to me. A dunce, but an amiable dunce.

O'REILLY: So what? There's six people watching, and they're not going to buy your book.

COULTER: I didn't realize he was going to turn himself into the [Rev.] Al Sharpton of the Jews.

O'REILLY: All right. I don't want to mention his name. He's just a twerp. But you go on there, and you talk about Christianity and Judaism, all right? Now, come on, no matter what you say -- no matter what you say -- they're going to load it up against you. You know that. Just the topic.

COULTER: Look, me saying, “Good morning” -- they'll load it up against me and start demanding that no one have me on. OK. So what? I mean, of all their defamation campaigns against me, announcing that I am Christian and part of my Christianity entails actually believing it, it's not really taken off.

O'REILLY: But they tried -- I read the transcript. I couldn't really make heads or tails out of it. I'm not smart enough. But they tried to say that --

COULTER: Well, you are smart enough --

O'REILLY: -- you were denigrating Jews. You wanted all the Jews to be Christians.

COULTER: Right, but it's part of the, as I say, the Christian panic syndrome. Look, the Orthodox Jews are all supporting me. They have some vague familiarity with the Old Testament and the New Testament.

O'REILLY: The Orthodox Jews are supporting you. What does that mean?

COULTER: Yeah, because they've heard of the Bible. This is not a Christian thing even here. This is way beyond that. This is the irreligious against the religious.

O'REILLY: OK. I don't even care, to tell you the truth.

COULTER: Either do I.

O'REILLY: But I do care about --

COULTER: You brought it up, and I'm not explaining myself.

O'REILLY: No, I had to bring it up because of other things.

COULTER: Yeah, but all of your little lead-ins were that I was explaining myself. I'm not; I'm promoting this book.

O'REILLY: Right.