The ten minute interview that President Obama granted to FOX News Channel host Bill O’Reilly was, among other things, a study in dodging pertinent questions. It was also a decent critique of the success, or failure, of his six years in office. In this case, failure. The transcript below was the first two and a half minutes of it which didn’t make the cut for the ten minute segment that aired. It was about the economy and the dissolution of the American family.
O’Reilly’s first question:
BILL O’REILLY – One of my, uh, points on the Factor is that poverty is driven by the dissolution of the American family, that is the prime mover, okay. On your watch, median income has dropped seventeen percent among working families in this country. That’s not a good record, it’s not all your fault, part of it was this terrible recession, we all know that. Everybody knows that.
PRESIDENT OBAMA – Okay.
O’REILLY – All right. But 72 percent of babies in African-American community are born out of wedlock.
Some irrelevant back and forth, then this.
In his own words . . .
PRESIDENT OBAMA – Because — because what’s interesting, when you look at what’s going on right now, you’re starting to see in a lot of white working class homes, similar problems — when men can’t find good work, when the economy is shutting ladders of opportunity off from people, whether they’re black, white, Hispanic, it doesn’t matter. Then that puts pressure as well on the home. So you’ve got an interaction between the economy that isn’t generating enough good jobs for folks who traditionally could get blue-collar jobs even if they didn’t have a higher education, and some legitimate social concerns, uh. That compound the problem and so we want to hit both. We want to make sure that we’re putting folks back to work and making sure that they’re well-paid —
In the first 2 minutes 35 seconds of the interview, President Obama correctly listed his performance in his first six years. And, he made it sound like he wasn’t responsible for any of it. As if he is campaigning for President who is running against his predecessor. Only in this case, his predecessor is himself.
- you’re starting to see in a lot of white working class homes, similar problems
- men can’t find good work
- the economy is shutting ladders of opportunity off
- that puts pressure as well on the home.
- the economy that isn’t generating enough good jobs
- some legitimate social concerns
Feel free to follow the link to the full unedited 11 minutes and 17 seconds of the interview. What you’ll see is the art of not answering a question, and, blaming FOX News for these scandals; Benghazi, IRS, and Obamacare.
Link: TRANSCRIPT: Full interview between President Obama and Bill O’Reilly
