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Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly threatens to 'come after' reporter over war zone claims

“I am coming after you with everything I have,” O’Reilly’s reported to have said, adding: “You can take it as a threat.”

BILL O’REILLY is getting heated as he faces accusations that he exaggerated his war reporting experience.

The Fox News host reportedly threatened a New York Times reporter who was writing about allegations that O’Reilly misled people by saying he had reported from a war zone.

From The Times:

During a phone conversation, [O'Reilly] told a reporter for The New York Times that there would be repercussions if he felt any of the reporter’s coverage was inappropriate. ‘I am coming after you with everything I have,’ Mr. O’Reilly said. ‘You can take it as a threat.’

bill Fox News Fox News

O’Reilly has denied embellishing stories from his time covering the Falklands War in Argentina.

Some of O’Reilly’s former colleagues have accused him of exaggerating the danger he and others were in while covering protests in Argentina.

O’Reilly wrote in his 2001 book, “The No Spin Zone: Confrontations With the Powerful and Famous in America,” that “many were killed” in a 1982 riot in Argentina, but other reporters who were there say no civilians were killed.

In an interview on Fox’s Mediabuzz show, O’Reilly pointed to a New York Times story from the time that said a policeman “pulled a pistol” and fired five shots during a protest.

However, he left out the part of the sentence that noted the shots were fired “over the heads of fleeing demonstrators,” as the Times reporter who wrote the story pointed out on Facebook on Monday.

“What I saw on the streets that night was a demonstration — passionate, chaotic, and memorable — but it would be hard to confuse it with being in a war zone,” Rich Meislin, the Times reporter, said in his Facebook post.

mes Richard Meislin / Facebook Richard Meislin / Facebook / Facebook

O’Reilly said he was just reading clips from the Times piece and that official casualty reports were hard to come by, according to The Times.

While he was covering the Falklands War, O’Reilly was stationed in Buenos Aires, according to CNN, more than 1,000 miles from the actual conflict zone.

Mother Jones first highlighted discrepancies in O’Reilly’s retellings of his time in Argentina last week.

O’Reilly has said he didn’t embellish anything, and he called the Mother Jones report “irresponsible.” He accused the magazine of trying to “smear” him and called it “the bottom rung of journalism in America.” Fox News released a statement saying the network was in “full support” of O’Reilly.

The accusations against O’Reilly come shortly after NBC News anchor Brian Williams was dealt a six-month suspension for exaggerating stories from his coverage of the Iraq invasion.

- Pamela Engel

Read: Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly is being accused of lying about being in a warzone

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    Mute Celticspirit321
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:21 AM

    The guy is a pinhead. Fox News is rubbish.

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    Mute ProudIrishRepublican
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:37 AM

    Fox, news?

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    Mute Swanky Joe
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:14 AM

    You only have to change one letter to get the truth …. Bill O’Lierrly

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    Mute Matt Connolly
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:42 AM

    it’s an oxymoron.

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    Mute Tom Collins
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    Feb 25th 2015, 10:25 AM

    Biggest dic*head on TV

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    Mute Charmaine Power
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:39 AM

    Fox News anchor calls The New York Times ‘the bottom rung of journalism in America’. Now that’s irony.

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    Mute Sergeant Yates
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:27 AM

    …and he called the Mother Jones report “irresponsible.” He accused the magazine of trying to “smear” him and called it “the bottom rung of journalism in America.” – i think it was Mother Jones he was accusing.

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    Mute Larry Doyle
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    Feb 25th 2015, 1:18 PM

    He called it “irresponsible” but he didn’t call it untrue.

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    Mute Justin McNulty
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:33 AM

    He’s all mouth and no balls!

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    Mute Glen
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:45 AM

    Well that’s one thing we agree on that !!

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    Mute Sergeant Yates
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:27 AM

    Exclamation Mark!

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    Mute Stephen Duffy
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:59 AM

    Didn’t Hilary Clinton claimed to have come under sniper fire while getting out of a helicopter in Bosnia? Then film emerged of he getting out of the helicopter and being greeted by smiling local dignitaries with absolutely no gun fire nearby.

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    Mute Deco James Connolly
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    Feb 25th 2015, 7:12 AM

    But she’s a democrat so lying is ok .
    #Benghazigate .

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    Mute Michael Coyle
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:32 AM
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    Mute Gary Rowe
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    Feb 25th 2015, 7:18 AM

    Thanks – that’s brilliant!

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    Mute Niallers
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    Feb 25th 2015, 7:58 AM

    There is no democracy without dissent.

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    Mute frank mullen
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:19 AM

    Great link Michael thanks !!

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    Mute Paul Lanigan
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:56 AM

    Brilliant

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    Mute Macus Mc Mahon
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:16 AM

    Of course Fox News supports him ,Fox is a champion of steamy horse shit .

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    Mute Kieran Doherty
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    Feb 25th 2015, 7:00 AM

    F IT
    WE’LL DO IT LIVE!!!!!

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    Mute Conor Power
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    Feb 25th 2015, 6:47 AM

    #foxnewsfacts

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    Mute Juan Venegas
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    Feb 25th 2015, 9:27 AM

    That shows you that the truth hurts, but only if you don’t accept it. This man believes his own lies, what a maniac.

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    Mute Alan Driscoll
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    Feb 25th 2015, 11:46 AM

    O’Reilly is a right wing cheerleader for private business interests in the US who back any war because it means cosy government contracts for them and anybody who does not support these wars is labelled as un-American by O’Reilly and his Fox News cohorts.

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    Mute john king
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    Feb 25th 2015, 11:12 AM

    Just a idiotic bully. Full of his own sh*te. Keith Olbermann’s blogs on O’ Reilly are hilarious. Watch them on YouTube.

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    Mute Luke Evans
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    Feb 25th 2015, 1:26 PM

    Bill O’Reilly is a disgusting human being, end of discussion

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    Mute just readin
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    Feb 25th 2015, 9:33 AM

    I dont like him at all, but recently I saw some of his earlier work on other news channels, he used to be a proper Journalist , spoke truth to power , dont know what happened to him after the 90′s , he aint the same guy….

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    Mute johngahan
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    Feb 25th 2015, 7:19 AM

    Great to see an Irishman at the top of the show business circus that is US news.

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    Mute Paul Lanigan
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    Feb 25th 2015, 8:57 AM

    He’s as much an Irish man as Obama is a Kenyan

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    Mute Who's Yer Man
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    Feb 25th 2015, 9:41 AM

    …Or Obama being Irish.

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    Mute Pat Cassano
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    Feb 25th 2015, 11:19 AM

    Some people had fun with the picture of Bill above on Andy Richter’s twitter. https://twitter.com/AndyRichter

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    Mute John Quill
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    Feb 25th 2015, 9:22 PM

    Apparently even the GOP are sick of Fox News. They’re seen as off putting to moderate conservatives.

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