Bill O'Reilly got a chance to sit down and interview the president of the United States before the Super Bowl on Sunday. Things turned tense pretty quickly after that, Deadline reported.
"OK, Bill, you've got a long list of my mistakes," Obama said to The O'Reilly Factor host near the start of their 10-minute live interview on Fox.
According to Deadline, that remark - in response to a question from O'Reilly whether it was the biggest mistake of Obama's presidency when he told Americans no one would lose their healthcare under Obamacare - was one of a number of points on which the two butted heads.
From the beginning of the interview, which was being shown live from the White House, the duo sparred on a number of topics.
When O'Reilly asked him about reports that the IRS was investigating Tea Party-related groups for political reasons, Obama took on Fox News Channel, Deadline reported.
"These kind of things keep resurfacing in part because you and your TV station will promote them," Obama said. "When you look there have been multiple hearings." Obama denied any corruption, just some "boneheaded decisions."
When questioned about why Obama didn't fire Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius after the botched online launch of Obamacare, he tried to avoid the question, prompting the Fox News host to interrupt him with a "you're not going to answer that."
Since Fox last broadcast the Super Bowl in 2011, the face-to-face marked the first time O'Reilly has interviewed Obama.
According to Deadline, the Obamacare rollout, the attack on the U.S. compound in Benghazi, and the IRS scandal were some of the topics that the two covered during the pregame interview.
Obama also wouldn't offer a prediction for the game between the Denver Broncos and Seattle Seahawks. "I can't make a prediction, I don't know, these guys are too evenly matched," he said. "I think it is going to be 24-21 but I don't know who is going to be 24 and I don't know who is going to be 21."
Just before the interview ended, O'Reilly told the President he thought his heart was in the right place. O'Reilly and Obama are set to chat more today for an additional taped portion that will be shown Monday on O'Reilly Factor, Deadline reported.
"The last time the FNC host and the President sat down together three years ago, O'Reilly grilled Obama about the Affordable Care Act, then before the courts, and how Obama felt knowing people 'hate' him," Deadline reported. "The first time the two spoke on-camera was in 2008, when then-Sen. Obama was running for president."
It's become a six-year Super Bowl tradition that the lead newsman for the host network sits down with Obama.
Scott Pelley, CBS broadcasting anchor, did the honors last year. When NBC had the game in 2013, Today's Matt Lauer landed the interview.
A well-known big sports fan and also well aware of the giant TV audience the big NFL game grants him, Obama noted the Broncos-Seahawks matchup in his weekly online address yesterday. "Have a great weekend," he said concluding his speech, "and enjoy the Super Bowl," Deadline reported.
Apart from Obama, Fox had a line-up of marquee non-sports names during its pregame coverage. Kevin Bacon from Fox's The Following, Hugh Jackman, one of the stars of the upcoming 20th Century Fox X-Men: Days Of Future Past, Jamie Foxx and The Monuments Men's Bill Murray were some other celebs.
