On Super Bowl Sunday, President Obama sat down for an interview with Bill O’Reilly. As expected, among other things, the interview included questions about Benghazi and Obamacare. And, as expected, Obama offered no answers.
O’Reilly did his part to try to get the President on record about whether or not then-Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta told him within minutes that the Libya attack was a “terrorist” act, and Obama’s response was to hem and haw–clearly unwilling to be forthright, focusing instead on calling Benghazi a “dangerous place.”
In addition, President Obama refused to answer why Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius still has a job after the disastrous Obamacare rollout–and whether the terminal illness of his presidency was his “if you like your healthcare plan, you can keep your healthcare plan” promise, which, of course, was not true.
No doubt accustomed to more softball questions from the media, Obama seemed perturbed at times by O’Reilly’s queries, and he blamed Bill and Fox News for the distrust Americans have for him–odd since he could have taken advantage of this opportunity to clarify his positions by actually answering the questions. He chose, instead, to deflect.
The interview found the president uncomfortable from the outset, although O’Reilly toed the line between forcefully asking the right questions and showing respect for the president of the United States. It grew increasingly painful, and even embarrassing, when Bill read a question from a woman who asked why Obama found it necessary to “fundamentally transform” the nation. As Breitbart News reported, his response suggested that he was not even aware that he had made such a statement, and O’Reilly reminded him that those were his own words.
Obama provided no answers to any of the questions engaged Americans have. He wouldn’t even answer the one softball question Bill O’Reilly threw him: who would win the Super Bowl.
Perhaps the one good thing that came out of this interview was that, most assuredly, among those tuned in to the network for the Super Bowl pre-game show were people who are not rabid political enthusiasts, people who have only heard the mainstream media’s accusations that those mean right-wingers are unfairly criticizing Obama. In this interview, many saw for the first time President Obama’s handling of questions about the issues that have long been on the table for discussion. Considering it only took about one minute to recognize that he was not there to provide clear, honest answers, maybe some people have now seen the light. At least one can hope.