Obama, O'Reilly of Fox News battle over health care, Benghazi, IRS - Tribune-Review

Published: Sunday, Feb. 2, 2014, 9:09 p.m.
Updated 3 hours ago

In a pre-Super Bowl rumble, President Obama and Fox News host Bill O'Reilly jousted on Sunday over the health care law, the attack in Benghazi, and claims that the Internal Revenue Service targeted conservative organizations.

Obama expressed regret for saying people who liked their health insurance plans could keep them â€" millions had their policies canceled when the new law took effect in October â€" and said his administration did not seek to cover up the causes of the 2012 terrorist attack on a U.S. facility in Benghazi, Libya.

In a discussion about another dispute, Obama said indications that some IRS officials targeted conservative groups resulted from “bone-headed decisions” and “not even a smidgen” of corruption.

In a jab at Fox News, Obama at one point told the host of “The O'Reilly Factor”: “These kinds of things keep on surfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them.”

O'Reilly read a letter from a woman in California who asked Obama why he wants to “fundamentally transform the nation that has afforded you so much opportunity and success.”

Obama replied that he wants to initiate opportunities for Americans in the middle class and those trying to get there. “What we have to do is is make sure that â€" here in America â€" if you work hard, you can get ahead,” Obama said during the live interview in the White House during the pre-game program on the Fox network.

There were no questions about more current issues, such as the administration's push for an immigration bill. Obama has granted a Super Bowl Sunday interview every year he has been in office. It's the second one done by O'Reilly. He also did the honors in 2011, the last time Fox broadcast the game.

When O'Reilly repeatedly asked Obama whether the flawed promise about existing health care policies is the biggest mistake of his presidency, Obama said, “This is one that I regret.” The president also used a day-appropriate football metaphor: “I try to focus not on the fumbles, but on the next play.”

Earlier in the discussion, Obama told O'Reilly: “Bill, you've got a long list of my mistakes.”

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