What You DIDN'T See in the O'Reilly/Stewart Faceoff

By PopEater Staff Posted Feb 8th 2010 12:17PM

'Daily Show' host Jon Stewart and FOX's kingpin Bill O'Reilly exchanged some good-natured shots last Wednesday during Stewart's appearance on a network he relishes mocking - but it looks like the audience only saw the tip of the iceberg. Sites like Gawker allege that edits made to create the aired version of the interview were strategically executed to cast Stewart in a bad light.

FOX posted an unedited video of the entire interview online, and O'Reilly insists, "Some of these idiots in the press who hate us, [saying] 'O'Reilly cut the interview to make Stewart look' - OK, all of that is bull. It's a fair cut. And then when you watch the cut and watch the whole interview you'll see it." But were Stewart's most persuasive points scrubbed out of the televised segment?

Some have argued that Stewart's appearance was stripped down to contain only his weaker jokes and incomplete arguments. One of the pieces missing, Gawker complains, is a "cogent analysis" of FOXNews' news gathering techniques. In the full interview, Stewart accused the network of introducing GOP talking points during 'Fox and Friends' - then reintroducing them later as viral hot topics during more hard-hitting news segments.

Watch the Uncut Interview

One of Stewart's more cutting lines was also edited out of the aired version. The comedian told O'Reilly that he disagrees with FOXNews host Neil Cavuto's practice of suggesting that President Obama is a Stalinist: "I know what this is. I come from Jersey - it's the same thing: 'I'm not saying your mother's a whore. I'm just saying she has sex for money. With people.' FOXNews used to be all about, you don't criticize a president during wartime. It's unacceptable, it's treasonous, it gives aid and comfort to the enemy. All of a sudden, for some reason you can run out there and say, 'Barack Obama is destroying the fabric of this country.'"

In the full interview, Stewart and O'Reilly actually discuss the practice of editing discourse, with O'Reilly accusing the 'Daily Show' host of "taking a clip, cutting it up, and making someone look like an idiot." He says that Stewart used a clip of O'Reilly "criticizing the Bush protesters, but you didn't use the whole clip." O'Reilly's edit, Gawker suggests, didn't "unfairly present Stewart - it just deliberately removed his most effective arguments."

Stewart and O'Reilly have made appearances on each other's shows before; this was Stewart's first time visiting O'Reilly since 2004. O'Reilly has appeared three times on 'The Daily Show,' most recently in November 2008. O'Reilly once made enemies at Comedy Central by calling Stewart's audience primarily "stoned slackers" - on Wednesday, the FOXNews host amended it to "stoned slackers who love Obama."

The much-hyped - and relatively cordial - war of words was aired on FOX in two parts. In the first aired segment, Stewart landed a zinger, telling O'Reilly that the "no spin zone" ringleader had become the voice of sanity on his network - although, Stewart added, "that's like being the thinnest kid at fat camp."

Comments

(240)

Monday 08 February

By censorship2010

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These two goofs are perpetuating the division of the American population! Neither theRepublican nor the Democratic parties give a damn about the American people! When will Americans wake up!!!
www.AmericaWakeUpNow.net

By lenny

you got that right censorship. Even though I lean more to conservatism. Politicians are a joke. The whole system is a joke. Until being in politics is considered an honor will we get people in office that REALLY care about the American People.

By Terry

I'm with you! I think most of the American people today are so bias or brainwashed, they are either not capable of sorting out the truth from the B.S., or are blindly ignorant in their own opinions.

By nolalily

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A Senator's speech is as important as an open question period between a President and all of a partie's Congressional members?

Jon Stewart proves, once again, he is, by-far, the better informed and that isn't even his job.

By sari

Just in case you dont know its B H Obama who has divided this country and why??? because thats he way he planned it but thanks to people who realized the ruse we are still a NATION UNDER GOD WITH LIBERTY AND JUSTICE FOR ALL.

sARI

By biillll

Censorship....you speak the truth

By syl1969

To Sari~ are you kidding me???? Bush/Cheney took a totally united, patriotic country after 9/11 and bitterly divided this country. There hasn't been a bigger divide since the Civil War. Red states vs blue states, and a war against a country that did not attack us, but Bush wanting the guy who "tried to kill my daddy." And that was right up Cheney's alley! Bigger dividers we have not seen in a long, long time. The economy, tax breaks for jobs overseas... this mess is theirs, not this administrations! Nobody could clean that up in only one year!

By todd

holy crap! somebody who thinks that party line politics is stupid too! you're right and it sucks that people are wilfully ignorant and still believe their party is the right party to believe in. both democrats and republicans are extorting life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness from every citizen that doesn't line the politicians pockets with millions of our hard earned money!

Tuesday 09 February

By hootie1fan

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Why does anybody accept anything than anyone over at Fox News has to say about anything?

By ck

Can O'Reilly's head get any bigger? I love how Jon Stewart lets O'Reilly make a fool out of himself on O'Reilly's own show. Stewart is a lot smarter than most people that appear on O'Reilly's show.

By GaryH

Did we watch the same show???

By Lisa

Stewart doesn't have to worry about anyone make him "look" like a fool, but he legitimately and positively IS a fool!!

By bevoe

BOO-HOO! Poor ole Stewart. Some ass-hole liberal see's a conspiracy here.

By Starapple

I agree. There is no doubt that Stewart won this so-called "showdown". I am conservative and watch O'reilly regularly but his interview was a flop, using too many generalities.

By liseljon

Hmmmm! Didn't the lefties remark crudely toward President Bush during war.

Its the old good for the goose....good for the gander!

By vobox3343

No, it's about doing what you say you believe, and not just for convenience sake. Unless, of course, immature is how you'd like to be identified.

By RadMan

Pay back is all that you're about. I've been saying this for months. You want to criticize Obama for anything--made up things--ONLY because Bush got so heavily (and appropriately) criticized! The problem is that Obama is doing a pretty good job. Of course, if all you watch are the reactionaries at Fox, you wouldn't know this. If they have Obama on the air schooling the Republicans, they just cut him off.

By cloc

Yea but its all a game that both sides play. Trust me both republicans and democrats eat at each others house and laugh about regular people taking sides. Don't fall for the crap.

By DemoCrat

So you didn't like critisizing the President during time of war when there's a Republican president, but you think it's ok when there's a Demoocratic president. Maybe that's why so many Republicans got thrown out - Republicans have no integrity in their principles. What a hypocrite you are!

Obama is doing a pretty good job?? Are we on the same planet? Doing a good job at what??

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