Fact-checking Bill O’Reilly and David Corn

The media war between Bill O’Reilly, Mother Jones and others continues. We fact-checked two claims from the back-and-forth.

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Bill O’Reilly’s accounts of his early years as a reporter have garnered a lot of attention lately, especially his experiences in the 1980s during the Falklands War. For those who might not remember, a full-blown battle broke out in 1982 when Argentina sought to claim the islands that had long been held by the United Kingdom.

The scrutiny of the iconic Fox News host began with a Mother Jones article by David Corn and Daniel Schulman. It asserted, “For years, O’Reilly has recounted dramatic stories about his own war reporting that don’t withstand scrutiny — even claiming he acted heroically in a war zone that he apparently never set foot in.”

O’Reilly has aggressively defended his reputation.

“David Corn, a liar, says that I exaggerated situations in the Falklands War and Salvadoran War,” O’Reilly said on his Feb. 20, 2015, show. “I never said I was on the Falkland Islands, as Corn purports. I said I covered the Falklands War, which I did.”

The full scope of the dispute over O’Reilly’s past actions is larger than a single fact-check, but did O’Reilly’s never say “I was on the Falklands Islands”?

Read why that rates Half True.

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On the flip side, Corn defended his reporting MSNBC’s Rachel Maddow.

Apparently, Corn once worked for Fox News, and he and O’Reilly were something of pals, Corn contended. Here’s how Corn put it:

“I’ve watched Bill O’Reilly over the years. In fact I used to work there from 2001 to 2008, and was often on Bill’s show and often was praised by Bill, not as a liar but as a good reporter. But that was then. This is now.” Corn said.

That also rates Half True, however. You can read why by clicking here.