Senate President Steve Sweeney took to the airwaves tonight to defend his name against an assault from Fox News host Bill O’Reilly.
During last Thursday’s Talking Points segment of O’Reilly’s show, the sometimes acerbic host criticized Sweeney for the state Legislature’s failure to pass Jessica’s Law, which would impose tough mandatory sentences for pedophiles.
Sweeney blasted back in a statement earier this week and then appeared with O’Reilly tonight to defend his name.
“It’s easy to play the tough guy when you’re in a mid-town Manhattan studio and not in the trenches working to create laws,” Sweeney said earlier this week. “I put my record of doing things to actually protect kids up against O’Reilly’s record of misinformation and self-righteousness any day of the week.”
During the segment O’Reilly pressed Sweeney on why the bill was not passed after its introduction in 2005, but Sweeney refused to say why the legislation had been stalled, saying he wouldn’t throw anyone under the bus.
The Senate president vowed to push the bill through, even inviting O’Reilly to testify at the eventual hearing.
The two ended on a kumbaya note, with O’Reilly promising to “send some cameras” to the Statehouse when the bill is finally passed.
