Goldberg: The media is slobbering over Hillary Clinton

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Goldberg: The media is slobbering over Hillary Clinton

Bernie Goldberg looks at the glowing coverage the Secretary of State has received

This is a RUSH transcript from "The O'Reilly Factor," January 25, 2013. This copy may not be in its final form and may be updated.

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BILL O'REILLY: Now for the "Top Story" tonight let's bring in our media analyst Bernie Goldberg who joins us from Miami this evening. Am I being overwrought here? Am I overdoing this, Bernie?

BERNIE GOLDBERG, FOX NEWS CONTRIBUTOR: I wish you were. But I'm afraid you are not.

Let's put this into perspective because this isn't happening in a vacuum with Hillary Clinton. Four years ago,. the so-called mainstream media fell in love with Barack Obama and they've been slobbering over him ever since. And it was because he was a historic figure.

He wasn't Mondale. He wasn't Dukakis, he wasn't Gore. He wasn't Kerry. He was a politician who was on the verge of becoming the first black President of the United States. And a lot of journalists who were too young to cover the civil rights stories of the 60s, they weren't going to miss out on helping to shape history twice. So they covered him the way they covered him. You know, by slobbering all over him.

Now we have Hillary Clinton who is another potential historic figure. She could be the first woman President of the United States. And this week, after those hearings, the media began slobbering in earnest. And it will continue and it will ratchet up when she announces that she's running as president of the United States.

And you know what, Bill? It doesn't matter what you think about this. It doesn't matter what I think about this. It doesn't matter what Krauthammer thinks about it. It doesn't matter what Brit Hume thinks about it. It doesn't matter what anybody thinks about it b Because these people, these journalists were born without the embarrassment chain. Nothing embarrasses them about how they behave.

O'REILLY: Do you think that Brian Williams and the rest of them -- Diane Sawyer, Martha Raddatz -- do you think that they know how they sounded while introducing a very important story, the Secretary of State's testimony in front of Congress. Do you think that they realize how it was coming across?

GOLDBERG: Yes that's a great question. No. And it's because when you live in a bubble and everybody is sort of alike, you don't notice stuff that guys like -- guys like us notice.

I mean, no I'll give you an example with Martha Raddatz. The most meaningless term in the English language is "I take full responsibility". When a politician utters those words it means absolutely nothing. So when Hillary Clinton said she takes full responsibility, Martha Raddatz praised her. She said she is taking all the blame on her shoulders.

A more skeptical reporter would say what does that mean? What does taking full responsibility mean? In some country -- in most countries, in most governments outside the United States there is a price you pay. I'm not advocating hara-kiri or anything like that, but when she says she takes responsibility and Martha Raddatz thinks that's a good thing without pursuing it, no, I don't think they understand what they sound like. I'm sure they don't understand what they sound like.

O'REILLY: Ok. So this is a huge advantage for the Democratic Party over the Republican Party. That's number one. That's the big picture.

GOLDBERG: Right.

O'REILLY: Now in "60 Minutes" and I'm going to do this as tip of the day at the end of the program. So I'm not going to give away my feeling about the interview but I do want to address this with you. "60 Minutes" is pretty much the last line of defense for me with the national television media. I think it's an honest broadcast. I think there is still tough guys over there although Mike Wallace was the toughest, the late Mike Wallace. I admire Croft. He is a temporary of mine we came up together.

He is going to interview Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton together. He is the last hope -- the last hope to get this Libya thing where it should be so the folks understand --

(CROSSTALK)

GOLDBERG: Right.

O'REILLY: -- what happened and who screwed up.

And I'm going to watch the interview. I'm going to do the lead story on it Monday and the "Talking Points" on it Monday. So, let's handicap it. Do you think Croft is going to get it?

GOLDBERG: Well, I know Steve very well. We were colleagues for a very long time. And we have socialized and all of that. And -- and I like him and he is good. And it's a big opportunity for him.

O'REILLY: Big.

GOLDBERG: It's a big opportunity. It's not up to me to sit here on your program and tell him what to ask but I will do it anyway. Right? One question should be -- one question should be why are those survivors of Benghazi still under wraps? I mean, why -- why haven't they been allowed to say anything? That's one question.

Another question, another good one would be, you know, it looks to many objective observers that the two of you, Mr. President, and madam Secretary of State, were totally unprepared for what happened at Benghazi, even though it happened on the anniversary of 9/11. You were still unprepared. How do you defend yourself against that? And just a personal question which has nothing to do with Benghazi.

But something I would want to ask is, Mr. President, I'm just curious. I've been curious about this for a long time. Are you embarrassed by the slobbering that the media, you know, does for you? Are you embarrassed by their slobbering?

"Newsweek" put you on the cover with a halo and then a few months later and says you are a second coming? Does that embarrass you at all?

O'REILLY: Well you could do that, you can frame that question in the -- in the reportage of the Hillary Clinton testimony because it certainly they weren't tough on Hillary.

All right.

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