Al Gore’s sale of liberal network Current TV to Al Jazeera has been one of this week’s more puzzling stories. Why did Gore sell? Did he rush the deal? Fox News pundit Bill O’Reilly thinks so. He opined that Gore rushed the sale of Current TV in order to avoid the onset of higher taxes which would go into effect after the fiscal cliff deadline this past Monday.
On his program, The O’Reilly Factor , host Bill O’Reilly shamed Al Gore for the Current TV deal, opining that the former VP “shamed himself” with the deal. He surmised that Gore pushed the deal to avoid the high taxes from Congress’s inability to solve the problem of the fiscal cliff early this week and shamed him for selling to the “anti-Americans” at Al Jazeera.
To drive the point home, O’Reilly rolled a clip of Al Gore saying two months ago that he believes rich Americans like himself should “do our fair share” by paying higher taxes.
O’Reilly turned his attention back to Al Jazeera , a network that is seen by some as very anti-American and even sympathetic to Osama bin Laden in the past. Though O’Reilly didn’t call for any kind of censor to be placed on Al Jazeera , he said that the whole deal was “sleazy” and “disgraceful.”
O’Reilly admitted that his theory, based on several reports , could be inaccurate. He invited Al Gore to come on The Factor to explain the deal more fully and stand up for himself. He added that he doubts Gore would RSVP that invitation.
Here’s video, via Mediaite . What do you think? Is the Current TV/Al Jazeera deal fishy, or is Bill O’Reilly overreacting? As Fox would say, “we report, you decide.”