O'Reilly Decries News Outlets Giving Trump “Far Too Much” Airtime “To Get Ratings”

Fox News Has Given Trump More Than Double The Amount Of Airtime Compared To Other GOP Presidential Candidates

From the April 29 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor

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BERNIE GOLDBERG: I think that we should also be concerned about when the media is unfair not just to the candidates but to the American people. When cable news runs Donald Trump's rallies and speeches live and virtually unaltered, they come off -- 

BILL O'REILLY (HOST): That's a campaign commercial. 

GOLDBERG: As infomercials for Donald Trump. 

O'REILLY: Absolutely. 

GOLDBERG: That he doesn't even have to pay for. Now, we all know why that happens. Leslie Moonves, who you know, who runs CBS said and this is a quote, “All this coverage of Donald Trump may not be good for America but it's damn good for CBS.” 

O'REILLY: Right. 

GOLDBERG: Look, I get it. I'm a capitalist. I want news organizations to make lots and lots of money. I'm all for ratings. But when you are in the news business you have other obligations too. Donald Trump is no longer the host of The Apprentice. He is running for President of the United States of America. Infomercials and soft interviews by some people on television don't do the American people any good. 

O'REILLY: I agree 100 percent. But that's a different issue. For the record I want to say this. We don't do that here on the Factor. On this hour eight to nine eastern time. You are not going to see any infomercials. We won't even allow candidates to call in. We're one of the few programs that don't. Chris Wallace doesn't do it on the CBS -- on the Fox News Sunday show. All the rest let them call. We're not going to do that. Because there's a big difference when you call in when you're in your jammies and you have five people in the room telling what you to say and when you are on like you are right now. We are not going to do that. 

GOLDBERG: Right. 

O'REILLY: And I agree with you that there's been far too much of let's put Donald Trump on to get ratings. 

Previously

The Fox Primary For March: Trump Widens His Airtime Lead

The 2015 Fox Primary: It's Trump, And Then Everyone Else

CBS Chairman Leslie Moonves Reveals Why Media Won't Stop Giving Wall-To-Wall Coverage To Donald Trump