While Defending Michelle Obama, O’Reilly Starts New Controversy

Huffington Post has the audio from Tuesday’s The Radio Factor. During the show, O’Reilly touched off a controversy when he used the term, “lynching party” in describing what he doesn’t want to happen to Michelle Obama. O’Reilly’s comment stemmed from Mrs. Obama’s remarks Monday that some critics have called unpatriotic.

Portfolio’s Jeff Bercovici wrote about the uproar yesterday, and included comment from the EP of the radio program (as well as The O’Reilly Factor on FNC), David Tabacoff. “What Bill said was an obvious repudiation of anyone attacking Michelle Obama,” he said. “As he has said more than ten times, he is giving her the benefit of the doubt.”

O’Reilly’s comment was also the number one story on MSNBC’s Countdown last night. It’s also prominently displayed on the Media Matters web site.

Will it end there? As Bercovici writes: “(Media Matters) makes a point of having interns listen to every O’Reilly broadcast in hopes of catching him in a career-ending slip of the tongue. But this, while embarrassing, won’t be that slip.”

• Related: Johnny Dollar reports that Tony Snow will be the permanent guest host for the Radio Factor, as announced today on the program. His first day will be tomorrow.

> Update: O’Reilly addressed the controversy on his radio program today. Johnny Dollar has that audio. He complimented the Los Angeles Times for their portrayal of the facts. He also promised to address it again on The O’Reilly Factor tonight.

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