Another 'View' Feud: Rosie vs. O'Reilly

By
ABC News
February 9, 2009, 8:39 AM ET
2 min read

April 3, 2007 — -- There's a battle brewing between "The View" host Rosie O'Donnell and Fox News talk show host Bill O'Reilly, after O'Reilly said that O'Donnell went too far last week on her show when she talked about the British captives in Iran.

It's the latest dust-up for O'Donnell, who earlier this year had a celebrity face-off with Donald Trump over the Miss USA scandal.

Now, "The View" host is wading into more serious territory with comments she made last week.

"There were 15 British sailors and marines who apparently went in to Iranian waters and they were seized by the Iranians," O'Donnell said on "The View" on March 26. "I have one thing to say: Gulf of Tonkin. Google it."

O'Donnell was referencing an alleged pair of attacks by North Vietnam naval forces against two U.S. ships in 1964. After the Gulf of Tonkin incident, Congress passed the Southeast Asia Resolution, which granted then-President Johnson the authority to assist countries whose governments were threatened by communism. That eventually led to U.S. involvement in the Vietnam War.

O'Reilly was outraged.

"So according to Rosie O'Donnell, the British set up their own people to be kidnapped to incite another war," O'Reilly responded on "The O'Reilly Factor" on March 29. "Ms. O'Donnell is now actively supporting Iran against her own country and Britain."

So did O'Donnell go too far?

"In this case, she's got an extra push from O'Reilly and she's gotta be very, very careful moving forward," said Fraser Seitel, a crisis management consultant.

O'Donnell, who has never shied away from controversy, has talked about terrorists before.

"You can walk through life believing in the goodness of the world or walk through life afraid of anyone who thinks different than you and trying to convert them to your way of thinking," O'Donnell said during the Nov. 9, 2006, taping of "The View." "Get away from the fear. Don't fear the terrorists. They're mothers and fathers."

O'Reilly aired that clip on his show.

"'Don't fear the terrorists.' The question is what should ABC do?" he said.

Others are asking, what O'Donnell should do.

"What she should do is clarify her position," Seitel said. "Clarify the fact that she is not defending the terrorists and especially clarify the fact that she is not attacking the American troops."