Fox's Stuart Varney: Cecile Richards Is A “Villain” And It's “Villainous” To Fund Planned Parenthood

During the January 8 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Fox Business Network host Stuart Varney joined Fox News host Bill O'Reilly in a discussion of Varney's villains of the week, which Varney suggested include Planned Parenthood or alternatively its president, Cecile Richards. Varney based his designation of Cecile Richards as a “villain” on the misleading portrait of the health care provider based on the deceptively-edited videos produced by the anti-choice organization Center For Medical Progress (CMP), named by Media Matters as "Misinformer of the Year." CMP's videos have been debunked by numerous media outlets, including the New York Times, which called the effort “a dishonest attempt to make legal, voluntary and potentially lifesaving tissue donations appear nefarious and illegal.” Multiple investigations into allegations against Planned Parenthood stemming from videos targeting the organization have found no illegal activity taking place.

Varney concluded the segment by saying the organization should be blocked from receiving public funding, to which O'Reilly agreed. Planned Parenthood affiliates receives public funding from a few different government programs, either from Medicaid reimbursement for services provided or in the form of grants to provide sex education, birth control to low-income patients, testing for sexually transmitted infections, and cancer screenings.

From the January 8 edition of Fox's The O'Reilly Factor:

BILL O'REILLY: All right, villain number two.

STUART VARNEY: Planned Parenthood.

O'REILLY: The whole thing?

VARNEY: Well if you want to pick on Cecile Richards, who runs the operation, let's do that.

O'REILLY: All right, let's make her the villain.

VARNEY: That's the villain.

O'REILLY: All right, there she is.

VARNEY: Now, Congress, or the Republicans, want to defund Planned Parenthood for one year. Cecile Richards says we don't want that. We're going to bring in Hillary Rodham Clinton. We are going to support her. She has access to $20 million worth of Planned Parenthood funds. OK, got that.

O'REILLY: What does that mean?

VARNEY: They have a pool of money.

O'REILLY: Planned Parenthood.

VARNEY: Yes, to which -- this is not taxpayer money. But that money is now available to Hillary.

O'REILLY: In donations? In the form of donations? Planned Parenthood is going to fund her campaign this election? [CROSSTALK]

VARNEY: Yes, to some degree.

O'REILLY: All right.

VARNEY: Look, my problem with this goes back to those tapes we saw last year.

O'REILLY: Sure.

VARNEY: I thought that was absolutely inhuman when you saw a woman describing how to crush a fetus, to maximize the body parts.

O'REILLY: The harvesting of the organs.

VARNEY: The harvesting, to crush [a] fetus for the best outcome for the money. [CROSSTALK]

O'REILLY: It was terrible and clear-thinking people -- but I'm not sure about the villain thing because Planned Parenthood would support Hillary Clinton no matter what.

VARNEY: But look, Bill, I don't want a dime of my taxpayer money going to support an organization which is --

O'REILLY: But you just said it wasn't.

VARNEY: No. We're trying to defund Planned Parenthood. That's what the Republicans - [CROSSTALK]

O'REILLY: But that's never going to happen because the Democrats in the Senate will block it.

VARNEY: Irrelevant. I don't want a dime of my money going to any organization that does that kind of thing. And I don't care whether you are on the left or the right.

O'REILLY: OK, do you really feel that Ms. Richards in her belief system, which is abortion on demand, selling harvested body parts from dead babies' fetuses, depending on your point of view, do you think that that in itself is villainous?

VARNEY: Yes. It is villainous to expect me to contribute to it and to force me to contribute to it through taxation. That is villainous.

O'REILLY: They say none of that money goes to abortions or to harvesting of organs.

VARNEY: When you saw that tape of the woman saying here's how you crush the fetus - [CROSSTALK]

O'REILLY: It was appalling It was disgusting.

VARNEY: That's absolutely inhuman. Out of bounds.

O'REILLY: Immediately the president should have signed an executive order immediately freezing any tax money in there. That's what he should have done.

VARNEY: In my opinion, yes.

O'REILLY: But of course it's politics associated with Planned Parenthood.

VARNEY: It's villainy.

Related:

A Comprehensive Guide To The Deceptively-Edited Videos Used Against Planned Parenthood

Previously:

Fox's Varney Praises Deceptive Fiorina Ad Defending Her Deceptive Planned Parenthood Attack

O'Reilly Attacks Planned Parenthood Following Shooting: PPFA “Deserves Much Of The Harsh Criticism”

Bill O'Reilly On Planned Parenthood's Fetal Tissue Donation: “Many People Feel This Is Nazi Stuff”