Bill O'Reilly Responds to 'The View' Walk-Off and Ground Zero Debate, Says He Was Trying to 'Sell a Book' (VIDEO)
Having people leave the room while you're talking is generally considered to be a bad thing. But Bill O'Reilly always tries to look on the bright side. Two months ago, back in October, O'Reilly got into an infamous yelling match during a live filming of 'The View,' which culminated in co-hosts Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walking away in protest.On 'Late Show' (weeknights, 11:35PM ET on CBS), David Letterman had this question for O'Reilly: "What the hell happened over there on 'The View'? What was going on?"
Bill said he knew Behar didn't like him, and that Whoopi's opinion of him varied. He added that he was just trying to "sell a book" during his time on the show. And he found a positive aspect to the fiasco, joking that it was the "greatest thing ever." "You know what I was thinking? ... 'I hope they all leave! Then I'll take the whole show. I'll have 45 minutes of ABC airtime.'" Well, that's one way to sell a book.
'The View' debate focused on the "Ground Zero mosque," leading to this statement from O'Reilly: "Muslims killed us on 9/11." This angered Whoopi Goldberg, who pointed out that Muslim-Americans also lost family members during the attack. During the ensuing shouting match, she added that non-Muslims have also committed terrorism -- including Timothy McVeigh, who was responsible for the Oklahoma City bombing.
Whoopi and Joy Behar then walked off the 'View' set. They returned after O'Reilly said this: "If anyone felt that I was demeaning all Muslims, I apologize."
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