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O'Reilly slams Bachmann for 'trivial' criticisms of President Obama

In a rare attack on a fellow conservative, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly tonight criticized Rep. Michele Bachmann for "playing small ball" in her recent attack on the perks President Barack Obama enjoys in the White House.

At last week's Conservative Political Action Conference, Bachmann had criticized Obama for using taxpayer money to fund "a lifestyle of excess" — including "five chefs on Air Force One ... two projectionists who operate the White House movie theater ... and someone to walk the president's dog." When asked about those criticisms by CNN's Dana Bash — who pointed out that Obama did not have a dog-walker — Bachmann dodged the questions and spoke instead about the attacks in Benghazi, Libya.

(WATCH: Michele Bachmann at CPAC)

O'Reilly said Obama was "entitled to protection, convenience and comfort" and that Bachmann was engaged in "a trivial pursuit."

"We wanted to ask Congresswoman Bachmann about the fracas, but she didn't want to talk about it, even though this program has been fair to her always. So we did ask her spokesman, Dan Kotman, if we could call him about questions, the congressman's analysis, after we checked it out. He said, 'Don't.' Don't call him," O'Reilly said on tonight's program. "He referred us to a book called 'Presidential Perks Gone Royal.' Apparently that's a book Ms. Bachmann used for her comments about the president's lifestyle."

"Now, this would be much ado about nothing, if not for the fact that trivial attacks on President Obama are obscuring serious problems in this country," O'Reilly continued. "Does the president live well in the White House? Yes, he does. Is there money wasted there? You bet there is. But every other president in history has lived in comfort, and it looks like President Bush the younger had a bigger White House budget than Barack Obama does."

"This is a trivial pursuit, and Michele Bachmann made a mistake pursuing it," O'Reilly said. "With the nation now owing close to $17 trillion, I wish the president were more like Pope Francis, who as a cardinal in Argentina rejected all the lavish perks. But Mr. Obama is entitled to protection, convenience, and comfort as he runs the nation."

"Congresswoman Bachmann and all opponents of Mr. Obama should zero in on what's really important: the president's failure to deal with out of control spending, and his core belief that America's not a fair country," he continued. "That's what's important, not who is walking the presidential dog. By the way, that's the gardener who walks the dog — the gardener has always walked the dogs — and how many movies the Obamas watched. Jimmy Carter watched 300 movies — well, that might have been why things were so out of control back then."

"Now, it's long past time for partisans on both the right and the left to cut the nonsense and look at things clearly," he continued. "We've got huge problems in America, and the president is directly responsible for some of those problems. He's not willing to compromise, he doesn't see the big economic picture, and he's way too far left for a commander in chief. That's what we should be focusing on."

In conclusion, O'Reilly said that "Michele Bachmann is playing small ball with the president, can't back up her criticism, and actually trivializes a huge problem: irresponsible spending by the federal government. Two words: Not good."

(Also on POLITICO: Bill O'Reilly shouts at guest: 'You are lying, you are lying!')