On Media Blog Archives Select Date… December, 2015 November, 2015 October, 2015 September, 2015 August, 2015 July, 2015 June, 2015 May, 2015 April, 2015 March, 2015 February, 2015 January, 2015

O’Reilly: ‘I’m sorry I said Alan was lying’

Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday said he was “sorry” for accusing liberal radio talk show host Alan Colmes of “lying” during their heated exchange the night before.

Although O’Reilly said he “should not have used that word," the Fox News host stood by his statement that President Barack Obama has not made any “specific” proposals for spending cuts. O’Reilly on Tuesday night repeatedly shouted at Colmes “you are lying, you are lying” as Colmes said the president has indeed suggested cuts on entitlements and Medicare.

“Lots of folks talking about my shootout with Alan Colmes last night where I asked him what specific — specific — budget cuts President Obama has proposed,” the host said at the start of “The O’Reilly Factor.” “Colmes hemmed and hawed saying the president’s promising to cut Medicare, or something. But the truth is Mr. Obama has not put forth any specific federal spending cuts. It's all a bunch of general nonsense and so Colmes and I got into it. Even though I’m sorry I said Alan was lying — I should not have used that word — I'm glad the exposition occurred.”

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

And O’Reilly told viewers he raised his voice to “get everybody’s attention — I think I succeed” about Obama’s stance on economic issues.

“The president of the United States is not looking out for the country right now,” O’Reilly said. “He is he hell-bent on destroying the Republican Party and he does not seem to care if the nation collapses as a result.”

O’Reilly then quickly found himself in another argument on the subject, this time with Fox News political analyst Kirsten Powers. As he welcomed Powers onto the show, he remarked, “I understand you visited Alan Colmes in the hospital today. Just a joke.”

During the interview, Powers backed up Colmes’s stance from the night before about the president's propsals for spending cuts.

“You need to admit you are wrong. You are wrong about this and now you’re playing a game,” Powers said.

O’Reilly once again focused in on the word “specific” as he argued with his guest.

“This is where you and I will never agree,” O’Reilly said.

“Because I use facts?” Powers jumped in.

“The word to me, specific, and you can look it up in the dictionary or on the president’s website, specific means you come in and you say, we would like to raise the age for Medicare recipients to 61. And if you are earning more than $250,000 a year, you are not going to get as much as anybody else. We're going to cut you down to this percentage. That's specifics. Those are specifics," he said.

“You are totally moving the goal post,” Powers replied. “You are totally moving the goal post. What you screamed at Alan about last night, yes, you screamed at Alan last night saying that the president had not made any proposals.”

“No,” O’Reilly said. “Any ‘specific.’ And I used that word 13 times.”

The segment wrapped shortly after O’Reilly told Powers, “You and I will never reach détente because you don’t understand the word specific.”