Conservative pundit Bill O’Reilly is urging former President Donald Trump to shift his focus away from inflammatory statements, including recent attacks on pop star Taylor Swift.
O’Reilly said Trump should prioritize critical national issues like border security as he vies for the presidency in 2024.
On NewsNation’s On Balance with Leland Vittert, O’Reilly said Trump’s comments about Swift are detrimental to his campaign. In addition, O’Reilly said Trump’s controversial and widely debunked claims about Haitian immigrants eating pets are also harmful to his bid for the White House.
“With Trump, it’s all centric, he’s got to look out,” O’Reilly said. “When he gets into eating cocker spaniels and ‘I hate Taylor Swift,’ he hurts himself.”
O’Reilly, a former Fox News host, addressed Trump’s recent rhetoric surrounding Swift,who recently endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 election.
“I will be casting my vote for Kamala Harris and Tim Walz in the 2024 Presidential Election,” she told her 284 million Instagram followers just after the first presidential debate against Harris and former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee, wrapped up.
After several media outlets analyzed the potential impact of Swift’s endorsement, some calling it significant, Trump, who has repeatedly mentioned the singer in this election, and whose campaign even used AI-generated images falsely showing her endorsing him, posted on social media Sunday expressing his dislike for her.
In a Sunday post on Truth Social, his social media platform, the former president, in an all-caps message, wrote: “I HATE TAYLOR SWIFT!”
In addition to discussing Swift’s advice, O’Reilly also addressed other controversial statements made by Trump, including his claim that Harris is a “communist” and his remarks about Haitian immigrants eating dogs and cats.
O’Reilly dismissed the “communist” claim as typical political rhetoric, explaining, “It’s not true, but it’s political rhetoric. This is what politicians do on both sides.”
He went on to label Trump’s comments about Haitian immigrants as “ridiculous” and advised him to stop making such statements.
Shifting the focus, O’Reilly urged Trump to concentrate on real issues, especially border security. He pointed out that Trump could still appeal to voters by addressing significant topics, like the consequences of an open border, which concerns many Americans.
“As long as he’s focused on saying, ‘Look, an open border leads to rape and murder of Americans,’ that’s true, and he can say it’s true,” O’Reilly added.
This is a developing news story and will be updated with more information.
