Bill O'Reilly Points Out That Jesus Also Had Haters

In an interview with The Washington Post's Sally Quinn, Fox News star Bill O'Reilly discussed his new history book Killing Jesus, and while insisting he was "not comparing" himself to the son of God, O'Reilly did just that.

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In an interview with The Washington Post's Sally Quinn, Fox News star Bill O'Reilly discussed his new history book Killing Jesus, and while insisting he was "not comparing" himself to the son of God, O'Reilly did just that. In response to a question about his "haters," he explained,

The O’Reilly haters are pretty much the people that have no idea what I do. And I like that — I mean, I don’t have any problem with people disliking me, and I’ll tell you why. I’m not comparing myself, but who was the most hated person in Judea 2,000 years ago? 

Many, many loved him, but just as many despised him. They’re always going to do that. If you speak your mind, you’re going to have some who like you and some who hate you.

Emphasis added. O'Reilly has always been vocal about his Christian faith, but he made sure to note that he is, indeed, "fallible." Still, he's morally superior to a lot of people, especially other people in media. He went after self-professed atheist Bill Maher in the interview, and on his show, he derided CNN for its obsession with the search for Flight MH370. 

On last Thursday's show, he told viewers, "we can expect to hear massive speculation about the debris until it's found. That's because the media is running wild with the airlines story as you know. And there is a big reason why — money. ... The network news doesn't want to cover important stories like the IRS and Benghazi but they can cover the airliner without any political consequences." The Five's Dana Perino called this segment brilliant, because O'Reilly found a way to "talk about the plane in a way that could still get him ratings, but he could criticize people talking about the plane."

Would Jesus spend air time not-talking about the missing plane? O'Reilly seems ready to stop pondering questions like this all together. He told Quinn he's slowing down and looking at retirement. And like Jesus, he's not afraid to die: "No, not at all. My time is up, I’m going."

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.