Not long after the horrific truck attack that has reportedly killed at least 77 people and injured more than 100 in Nice, France, presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump responded publicly both on Twitter and in national television interviews via phone with Greta Van Susteren and Bill O’Reilly in successive hours on Fox News.
“This is war, Bill,” Trump told O’Reilly. “Unless we get strong and really, really smart leadership, it’s only going to get worse.”
Trump joined Greta Van Susteren’s “On the Record” on Fox in the 7 p.m. hour before going back on the network with O’Reilly at 8 p.m. at the top of his show. At 8:51 p.m., presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton followed suit.
{mosads}This is emblematic of the contrast between a candidate who is fearless and unfiltered when it comes to doing interviews anywhere, anytime in Trump, and one who is both risk-averse and cautious when it comes to the media in Clinton.
The same happened after terror attacks in Paris in November, three months ago in Brussels and again in Nice tonight: When it comes to speed in responding publicly to such attacks via Twitter and phone interviews, Trump is drawing a clear contrast with Clinton and easily beating her to the punch every time. Whether this is a good or bad thing is in the eye of voter.
Fox’s O’Reilly had this to say at the end of his interview with Trump: “Now I have to give Mr. Trump a compliment whether you like him or not, whether you’ll vote for him or not, whatever,” O’Reilly said. “Donald Trump reacts, all right? When we call Donald Trump — and he is the Republican nominee — and you want to hear what he thinks about a terror attack in France, he gets on the phone … with what, eight minutes did I cajole you? Yelled at you for eight minutes?” pivoting the statement directly to Trump.
“But you got on the phone, you talked to the American people directly, and I think everybody has to admire that,” he continued. “I really do.”
Clinton’s interview with O’Reilly later in the program lasted seven minutes, and it was the first time she has appeared on his program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” since 2008.
“We got to do more to understand that this is a war against these terrorist groups … a different kind of group … we have to be smart in how we wage it,” said Clinton, adding later, “One of my priorities is to launch an intelligence surge.”
“I was very, very happy to have both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on this program,” O’Reilly said. “It’s an important night. There are a lot of things happening that affect all of our lives.”