Saturday Night Live has often been the subject of criticism in conservative media circles for a perceived bias against Republicans, especially in the age of Donald Trump. Bill O’Reilly agrees that the show is biased, but admitted he was invited to host the show but was unable to make it work.
During his No Spin News and Analysis podcast Tuesday, O’Reilly mentioned the situation while describing President Joe Biden’s reasoning for not accepting an interview with Fox News for the Super Bowl pregame show.
“Biden blew off Fox for two reasons,” said O’Reilly. “One, he doesn’t like to do any interviews. He just doesn’t like to do ’em. Two, his far-left donors — (George) Soros and people — hate Fox and told him not to do it. Nothing anybody can do about it. However, in 2011, Saturday Night Live spoofed my Super Bowl interview with Barack Obama.”
O’Reilly then played a portion of the skit from SNL where he was portrayed by Jason Sudeikis.
“That was genuinely humorous,” chuckled O’Reilly. “There wasn’t a nasty edge to it. I remember back then, they invited me to host the show. I wanted to do it, but I would have had to rehearse the whole week and I couldn’t have done The O’Reilly Factor. So the Fox News people — the brass — said ‘We can’t do that. You’re over at NBC rehearsing all week for Saturday Night Live‘. My argument was it would reach so many people that it would be worth it to get that kind of publicity.”
“Anyway, I decided not to do it. I could have pushed it, but I didn’t. I get their point. They’re paying me, I’m supposed to be working for them, not running across the street working for NBC.”
O’Reilly added that while he would have enjoyed the opportunity in 2011, the offer wouldn’t be extended to him today, and he wouldn’t be inclined to accept it even if it was.
“When I told them I couldn’t do it, it wasn’t because of the material,” O’Reilly concluded. “Now? Saturday Night Live would never invite a person like me to host the show. Never.”
Keith Olbermann: Funny How Newsmax CEO Changed His Tune About DirecTV After New Agreement
“Newsmax gave the channel for free to DirecTV and then one day Newsmax said to DirecTV ‘Look, instead of free, we’d like you to give us $13 million a year’. DirecTV said ‘Are you kidding? For that crap?'”
Earlier this week, conservative cable news channel Newsmax struck a deal with DirecTV to return the network to the satellite provider after a monthslong back and forth that see each company take shots at the other. Keith Olbermann couldn’t help but notice those shots have ceased.
“Greta Van Susteren called for a Congressional investigation. Senators Tom Cotton (R-AR), Ted Cruz (R-TX), Lindsey Graham (R-SC), and Mike Lee (R-UT) wrote a letter threatening dire consequences and insisted this was liberal censorship,” The Countdown with Keith Olbermann host said. “DirecTV dropped Newsmax and the whiny butthurt snowflake fascists like Cruz demanded, I don’t know? Firing squads?”
The former cable news host then said it was clear during the dispute that the problem was about business, not politics.
“We all told them no, it’s not censorship, Newsmax gave its channel for free to DirecTV and then one day Newsmax said to DirecTV ‘Look, instead of free, we’d like you to give us $13 million a year’. DirecTV said ‘Are you kidding? For that crap?’ Direct TV and Newsmax have now made a deal. Terms were not disclosed, but Newsmax will be back on the satellite provider.”
Olbermann then turned his attention to Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy’s change in messaging. Previously, Ruddy — like others Olbermann had mentioned — was adamant that the network was removed due to conservative censorship.
However, now that a deal between the two parties has been struck, he believes that DirecTV “clearly supports diverse voices, including conservative ones”.
Late last week, former President Donald Trump claimed he would be arrested on Tuesday. That date came and went without any indication of when — or if — Trump would be indicted. Sean Hannity wasn’t surprised by the media coverage surrounding the story.
During The Sean Hannity Show Thursday, the host claimed the media has backtracked on its reporting, but added that Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg is more to blame than the media is.
“This is the funniest news aspect of the day regarding this is that you know, the media is now kind of trying to hint that Donald Trump’s arrest announcement was a hoax,” Hannity said. “Now we find out that Alvin Bragg is openly blaming Donald Trump for creating the false expectation that he would be indicted. Bragg’s direct accusation is a lot stronger than any media hinting about a Trump indictment.”
Hannity then took credit for what he viewed as a drop in the likelihood that Trump is indicted due to information released on his Fox News program.
“Now a lot of it is due to new information we got this week, some of which was broken on my television show, with my interview with Bob Costello. I think it’s devastating. A direct contradiction to a convict by the name of Michael Cohen. Admitted liar. Serial liar, you can even say, and you have this guy, Bob Costello, contradicting everything that Cohen is saying.
“Cohen is supposed to be the star witness in this case. You have a convicted felon admitted liar as your star witness. Good luck with that. Juries don’t like liars.”
Two new shows are coming to 101.7 The Truth. The Milwaukee talk station announced that Denise Thomas, Telly Hughes, and Melanie Ricks will be joining its weekday lineup.
Hughes and Thomas will partner for Truth Be Told. It will air weekday mornings from 7 until 9. The duo brings some serious influence to the airwaves. The Milwaukee Business Journal calls Thomas a “top 50 power broker” in the city while Hughes has two Emmy Awards to his name.
Ricks will be at the center of a one hour show called Nothing But the Truth. The show will air at noon. Ricks serves as the in-game host for the Milwaukee Bucks, who call WTMJ, a sister station of 101.7 The Truth, their radio flagship.
Both shows debut on April 3. Starting that day, the station’s daytime lineup will be as follows:
7 – 9 a.m. Truth Be Told with Denise Thomas & Telly Hughes
9 – Noon The Truth with Sherwin Hughes
Noon – 1 p.m. Nothin’ But the Truth with Melanie Ricks
1 p.m. – 4 p.m. The Tory Lowe Show
4 – 6 p.m. The Truth in the Afternoon with Ken Harris
“We’re excited to bring a new lineup of voices to our listeners,” Cherie Harris, the general manager of Good Karma Brands’ Milwaukee cluster, said in a press release. “Our new hosts are passionate and knowledgeable about the issues that matter most to the black community. We aim to provide a platform for authentic and unfiltered discussion, and we’re confident that our new lineup will deliver for our partners and fans.”
