As you may recall, last week Bill O’Reilly blasted Stephen Colbert as a “deceiver” and “ideological fanatic,” and that was before Colbert was named as Letterman’s successor. So it probably shouldn’t come as any surprise that Ole Bill-O isn’t high on Colbert’s chances to succeed in the position, and he thinks Colbert will fail mainly because he’s a radical leftist who won’t appeal to conservative folks in middle America.
“Traditionally late night has been light and breezy, with a minimum of political posturing,” O’Reilly said, invoking the apolitical tendencies of Johnny Carson and Jay Leno along the way. “But Colbert has built an entire career on pleasing the left.”
O’Reilly seems to be discounting the fact that there’s been no indication Colbert’s Late Show will be political in nature, as the Colbert Report clearly is, along with the fact that Letterman is a leftie who has never been shy about wearing his politics on his sleeve. But this should surprise no one.
