On Wednesday's The Last Word show, MSNBC political analyst Richard Wolffe -- formerly of Newsweek -- suggested that FNC host Bill O'Reilly was motivated by racism when he recently called it "shady" for President Obama to select Susan Rice as national security advisor to avoid Senate confirmation hearings.
A bit after host Lawrence O'Donnell played several clips of O'Reilly using the word "shady" to describe the move, Wolffe cracked:
I do recall when Fox News was looking at Dick Cheney and his openness and transparency, they didn't call him shady. But, you know, it's totally different with a black President, of course.
Later in the segment, Wolffe went on to claim that Senator John McCain is trying to "look good with Fox News" in going after Rice. Wolffe:
The Republicans who have gone after Susan Rice, especially John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are interventionists. One thing that drives them crazy is that the President doesn't intervene. Who in that group were most vocal about intervening in a place Libya? Susan Rice and Samantha Power. And, to some degree as well, she got a lot of credit for it, but, to some degree, Hillary Clinton, too. That's the kind of person that John McCain should be supporting right now, but, of course, you know, he hates her because he wants to look good with Fox News.
Below is a transcript of the relevant portion of the Wednesday, June 5, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell on MSNBC:
LAWRENCE O'DONNELL: So tonight, Krystal Ball, Bill O'Reilly has a big problem with Dwight Eisenhower for creating this very shady position, where you don't have to beg the Senate for your job.
(KRYSTAL BALL, MSNBC HOST)
O'DONNELL: Yeah, Richard, look, I hope there's no defiance at all. I hope the President isn't doing this because those Republicans criticizing her really bothered me and I want to defy them with this appointment. I hope he's choosing her because he thinks of all the people I can possibly have now as my national security advisor, she's the best person I can have.
RICHARD WOLFFE, MSNBC POLITICAL ANALYST: I think of the top 10 reasons the President chose Susan Rice to be his national security advisor, number 11 would be annoying Republicans. ... I do recall when Fox News was looking at Dick Cheney and his openness and transparency, they didn't call him shady.
O'DONNELL: Right.
WOLFFE: But, you know, it's totally different with a black President, of course.
(...)
WOLFFE: And let's just be clear: The Republicans who have gone after Susan Rice, especially John McCain and Lindsey Graham, are interventionists. One thing that drives them crazy is that the President doesn't intervene. Who in that group were most vocal about intervening in a place Libya? Susan Rice and Samantha Power. And, to some degree as well, she got a lot of credit for it, but, to some degree, Hillary Clinton, too. That's the kind of person that John McCain should be supporting right now, but, of course, you know, he hates her because he wants to look good with Fox News.
O'DONNELL: Who cares about the truth?
-- Brad Wilmouth is a news analyst at the Media Research Center