O'Reilly criticized as "personal attack" Matthews' assertion that Clinton owes political career to her husband's "mess[ing] around"

During the January 9 edition of Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor, host Bill O'Reilly stated that "some NBC commentators continue to slam Senator Clinton" and aired a video clip of MSNBC anchor Chris Matthews' comment following Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton's (D-NY) victory in the January 8 New Hampshire Democratic presidential primary, in which Matthews said: "Let's not forget, and I'll be brutal, the reason she's a U.S. senator, the reason she's a candidate for president, the reason she may be a front-runner is her husband messed around. That's how she got to be senator from New York. We keep forgetting it.

She didn't win there on her merit." O'Reilly called Matthews' comment "rough" and said: "Now, we should point out that Mr. Matthews has a perfect right to say whatever he wants to say because he is not a reporter. He is a commentator, as I am." O'Reilly added: "But it's rough. I mean, it's rough business what these people over there [at MSNBC] are doing. We don't do that here. We would never say that Senator Clinton got her job because her husband messed around. I mean, that is -- that is a personal attack. And it is questionable whether a network should allow that or not."

Think Progress, Crooks and Liars, Talking Points Memo, Firedoglake, and others also documented Matthews' controversial comments.

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