Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly had an excellent week of ratings at Fox News. O’Reilly averaged 2.94 million viewers a night, while Megyn Kelly averaged 2.77 million, which is her best showing in the past month. The election cycle is certainly helping both Fox News stars.
Bill O’Reilly’s biggest night was Wednesday with 3.24 million viewers, and his lowest was Thursday evening with 2.81 million. On Friday night, O’Reilly dealt with the aftermath of the riots in Charlotte, North Carolina.
“Things have calmed down a bit in that besieged city [Charlotte] last night, but there is still tension in the air,” O’Reilly said.
The Fox News star noted that earlier Friday, attorneys for Keith Scott, the black man who was shot by a black police officer, released a video of the confrontation. Then, he showed the video.
O’Reilly summarized the video by indicating that it isn’t conclusive and in no way an indictment of anyone. He noted that the confrontation was chaotic and that the police officer obviously believed Keith Scott had a gun.
“Nevertheless, some Americans will reach conclusions that have little basis in reality,” O’Reilly noted before asking those watching to just let the investigation play out before forming a judgement.
According to the NAACP, it doesn’t matter if Scott had a gun or not. Mediaite has the news .
“A local NAACP leader told CNN’s Carol Costello Thursday that it didn’t actually matter whether or not black Charlotte man Keith Scott had a gun on him when he was shot and killed by police.”
Megyn Kelly dealt with the Charleston riots on her show as well. The message of her show seemed to be the same as Bill O’Reilly’s: Don’t judge until we know exactly what happened. She talked to Police Chief Kerr Putney from the Charlotte Police Department.
“What I can tell you is that the video is, as I’ve said before, not the most definitive piece of evidence we would have hoped for. As I’ve said, you can’t really see what’s in his hands. And as I said before, you cannot see him making a gesture like pointing the gun which would be much more definitive,” Putney told Kelly, and then added that Scott’s failure to comply with commands and his failure to drop the weapon posed an imminent threat, which is what caused everything else to happen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKwYnGckNUc
Kelly then asked Putney about the release of the videos that show the deadly encounter.
“Well, here’s what I can tell you. Ultimately that is a factor [Scott’s family wanting the videos released] in whether or not we release. But ultimately right now, I don’t have any authority to do so. It’s in the hands of the State Bureau of Investigations. They’re going to do an independent investigation in there. And I’ll tell you, looking at it from all angles, I think that is probably the better option right now,” Putney answered.
Perhaps Putney’s initial assessment was correct. After the videos were released on Saturday, there was even more confusion. CNN reported on its release.
“Videos released Saturday by the Charlotte police department of the fatal encounter between Keith Scott and officers do little to answer some of the most significant questions about the shooting.”
You can bet that the continued controversy in Charlotte will make its way onto both Bill O’Reilly and Megyn Kelly’s shows this week. However, there is no doubt The O’Reilly Factor and The Kelly File will concentrate most news coverage on the debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton this week. Will you be watching?
[Featured Images by Paul Morigi/AP Images and Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
