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On Wednesday's episode of The O'Reilly Factor, Bill O'Reilly was discussing Obama's plan to reinforce the Mexican border with Marc Lamont Hill, a Columbia professor and political contributor to Fox News. Both host and guest agreed that Obama's proposal seemed insufficient. At one point, while trying to illustrate a point, O'Reilly said to Hill, who is black: "Say you're a cocaine dealer. And you kind of look like one, a little bit."

Hill laughed it off--"As do you! You look like a cocaine user"--and the conversation moved on. But a few observers, including Adrian Chen of Gawker, were gobsmacked. Says Chen: "Dang, O'Reilly, having black commentators is supposed to make you look less racist. Unless O'Reilly was talking about Hill's spiffy pinstripe suit. Like, how could you afford such a nice suit unless you were selling drugs? That's probably it."

It's worth noting that Hill is a frequent guest on the Factor, and he and O'Reilly seem to have a fairly easy rapport. Here's the clip--judge for yourself:

Bonus: Dennis DiClaudio weighs in at the Comedy Central blog.

What Bill O'Reilly said: "Say you're a cocaine dealer, and you kind of look like one a little bit." What Dr. Hill said in response: "You look like a cocaine user." What Dr. Hill should have said in response: "Why? Does yours wear a similar tie?" What Dr. Marc Lamont Hill really should have said in response: [PUNCH, FACE] "Goodbye."

[Hat tip: Mediaite]

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