Saturday, January 5, 2008

Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly Accused of Attacking Obama Aide


Fox News Host Bill O'Reilly appeared at a Barack Obama event at Nashua High School. Upon O'Reilly's presence, the crowd took notice, since O'Reilly has been accused of being racist and heavily against Barack Obama. However, it wasn't his presence that got the most attention.

Obama staffer Marvin Nicholson, a close aide to Senator Barack Obama, was standing next to Obama as he was taking handshakes. O'Reilly then yelled for Nicholson to get out of the way of his camera's shot. Nicholson also said that O'Reilly proceeded to move beyond the barricade protecting Obama, demanding a closer look.

"Then he grabbed me with both of his arms and tried to push me out of the way," Nicholson told the press.

Fox News has no comment about the incident.

"I told him, 'Sir, I would appreciate it if you wouldn't shove me anymore.'

"He called me 'low class.' He was pretty upset."

Secret Service agents assigned to protect Obama strongly ordered O'Reilly to get back behind the barricade, at which point, Obama extended his hand. O'Reilly then asked if Obama would appear on his show.

Nicholson, who has worked on other presidential campaigns in the past, said that he has never seen anything like this in his long career.

"I've never seen a member of the press lay hands on a staffer before," he said.

Democrats, to this point, including Obama, have refused to appear on Bill O'Reilly's show, as have most African-American leaders. Fox was forced to cancel a Democratic debate after none of the candidates agreed to appear.

"The senator said he would think about going to the show after the primaries," Nicholson said.

Some say O'Reilly's show has lost credibility in recent months, as he has been accused The New York Times, CNN, MSNBC and many major networks of being biased. Being accused of attacking a close aide of Barack Obama isn't likely to help his reputation.

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