O’Reilly: Trump fallen soldier controversy ‘has the look of a setup’

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly took to Twitter to slam the media for reporting “as truth” this week a Democratic congresswoman’s description of a phone call between President Trump and the family of a solider killed in Niger.

“No proof needed for the media which immediately reported the Congresswoman’s allegations as truth,” O’Reilly wrote to his 2.31 million followers on Twitter.

O’Reilly followed with another tweet saying “this whole thing has the look of a setup.”

No proof needed for the media which immediately reported the Congresswoman’s allegations as truth. https://t.co/ABeoVbMiXH

— Bill O’Reilly (@billoreilly) October 18, 2017

{mosads}

O’Reilly also retweeted an earlier tweet by Trump on Wednesday denying claims by Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.). Trump said the congresswoman “totally fabricated” a claim that he was disrespectful to the wife of a U.S. soldier killed in action.

According to Wilson, the president told the soldier’s widow, Myeshia Johnson, that her husband “knew what he signed up for.”

“Democrat Congresswoman totally fabricated what I said to the wife of a soldier who died in action (and I have proof). Sad!” Trump tweeted.

“I don’t know what was said, and neither does any other member of the press. But this whole thing has the look of a setup, does it not?” O’Reilly tweeted.

I don’t know what was said, and neither does any other member of the press. But this whole thing has the look of a setup, does it not?

— Bill O’Reilly (@billoreilly) October 18, 2017

The president spoke on Tuesday with the families of the four soldiers killed in an ambush in Niger on Oct. 4, the White House announced Tuesday. 

“President Trump spoke to all four of the families of those who were killed in action in Niger,” White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement.

“He offered condolences on behalf of a grateful nation and assured them their family’s extraordinary sacrifice to the country will never be forgotten,” she added.

The deceased Green Berets were identified by the Defense Department as Sgt. La David T. Johnson of Miami Gardens, Florida; Staff Sgt. Bryan Black of Puyallup, Washington; Staff Sgt. Jeremiah W. Johnson of Springboro, Ohio; and Staff Sgt. Dustin Wright of Lyons, Georgia.

The president spoke to Sgt. La David T. Johnson’s family on Tuesday.

Wilson said she was with the Johnson family during the call and characterized Trump’s remarks as “disrespectful.” Johnson’s mother confirmed that Wilson was in the car and agreed that the president disrespected her family.

“I didn’t say what that congresswoman said — didn’t say it at all — she knows it,” Trump told reporters on Wednesday. “I would like her to make the statement again because I did not say what she said.”

Wilson responded to Trump, calling him “a sick man” and saying she had “no reason to lie.”

O’Reilly, a supporter of the president, was the top-rated cable news host for 15 years until his ouster from Fox News in April amid sexual harassment allegations.