Fox News' Hall on comments like Matthews' about Clinton: “Every woman I know” said " 'I've experienced that kind of sexism' "

Discussing recent comments by Chris Matthews about Sen. Hillary Clinton, Fox News contributor Jane Hall referred to what Matthews said about “how she got elected not on her own merits, but because of his [Bill Clinton] fooling around, as he put it. ... He said she wanted to bury his [Sen. Barack Obama] campaign and what would she do with the body? That she wanted to strangle Obama in the crib.” Hall concluded: "[E]very woman I know saw the media coverage declaring her dead and said, 'You know, I've been through that. I've experienced that kind of sexism.' "

During the January 10 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, Fox News contributor Jane Hall discussed recent comments about Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton (D-NY) by MSNBC host Chris Matthews, including, Hall stated, what Matthews said about “how she got elected not on her own merits, but because of his [Bill Clinton] fooling around, as he put it. ... He said she wanted to bury his [Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL)] campaign and what would she do with the body? That she wanted to strangle Obama in the crib." Hall concluded, "[E]very woman I know saw the media coverage declaring her dead and said, 'You know, I've been through that. I've experienced that kind of sexism.' " When O'Reilly then asked, “So there was a backlash against that?” Hall responded, “Oh, absolutely.”

On the previous day's edition of The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly had aired a video clip of Matthews' comment on Clinton's victory in the January 8 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, in which Matthews said: “Let's not forget -- and I'll be brutal -- the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it. She didn't win there on her merit.” O'Reilly called Matthews' comments “rough” and stated: "[T]hat is a personal attack. And it is questionable whether a network should allow that or not."

Additionally, on the January 4 edition of MSNBC's Hardball, Matthews asked: "[W]hat does she [Clinton] do with the body? How does she get rid of a Barack Obama if she ever gets to beat him?" Matthews added: “How does she say, 'Now, step aside and go back to being junior senator from Illinois. Oh, you'll never be on the ticket because, hm, I have other plans. I'm going to give it to -- oh, I'll give it to [Sen.] Evan [Bayh (D-IN)]. ... I'll give it to [Ohio Gov. Ted] Strickland.' ” Further, during the December 20 edition of Hardball, Matthews asked: “Is the Hillary Clinton campaign trying to obliterate Obama's candidacy? Not just beat it, but strangle it in the crib before there's any chance he catches on?” Matthews then asserted there were "[m]ore efforts today by the Clinton people to smother the Barack Obama campaign in its crib" and went on to say, “The picture is not pretty, but it could very well be deadly. The goal is to smother the young senator in his crib.”

From the January 10 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor:

O'REILLY: What do you think, Jane?

HALL: Well, I think the time, you know, is way past for scrutiny of Obama. I would disagree with your characterization of him. I think that any -- anybody watching this would have to say the media have been -- they have a crush. And anybody who's in New Hampshire, I think, got -- you know -- could get swept up in the enthusiasm, young people coming out, all of that, but you have to have some judgment.

I also want to say, you know, that I think the media helped Hillary Clinton indirectly. I mean, Chris Matthews, the clip you played last night about how she got elected not on her own merits, but because of his fooling around, as he put it, that was one of several things that he had said. He said she wanted to bury his campaign and what would she do with the body? That she wanted to strangle Obama in the crib.

I mean, every woman I know saw the media coverage declaring her dead and said, “You know, I've been through that. I've experienced that kind of sexism.” And I think that that was also a factor.

O'REILLY: So there was a backlash against that?

HALL: Oh, absolutely.