It was billed as a rumble in a temperature-controlled room with a wrestling belt as a prize. When conservative commentator Bill O’Reilly and comedian Jon Stewart met on Saturday there were lots of jokes to be had. In between the laughs, was there some actual substance in there? Howard Kurtz, host of CNN’s “Reliable Sources” and Washington bureau chief of “The Daily Beast,” shares his take of the mock debate.
“I was surprised the debate was as serious as it was,” Kurtz says. “As the two men were standing rather awkwardly at those podiums they were really going at it on issues from redistribution of income to foreign policy.”
“And freed from the constraints of having actually to run for office, they were able to illuminate things in a certain way. I have to say this, Soledad. Both of them showed a lot more energy than Barack Obama did last week,” Kurtz adds.