Ben Affleck to Bill O'Reilly: 'I Don't Worry Too Much About What My Liberal Friends Are Going to Say' (Video)

Ben Affleck appeared on The O’Reilly Factor on the Fox News Channel on Wednesday and strayed from liberal doctrine, defending Gen. David Petraeus and U.S. intelligence personnel who may have -- as host Bill O’Reilly put it -- “water-boarded” and “rendition-ed” people.

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Affleck was promoting his movie Argo, a thriller-comedy about true events during the Iran hostage crisis of 1979-1981. Speaking about the film, Affleck said:  “This is really a tribute to the folks in our clandestine services, and our diplomats in the foreign services who are risking their lives.”

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O’Reilly followed up with:  “This is a valentine from Ben Affleck to the intelligence community. The same people who water-boarded. The same people who rendition-ed. What are your liberal friends going to say to you?”

“I don’t worry too much about what my liberal friends are going to say,” Affleck responded.

See video of the segment below.

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“In the back of your mind you didn’t say, ‘Look, I’m glorifying some people who maybe did bad things,’” said O’Reilly.

“I’ve been to the CIA. I met Gen. David Petraeus,” Affleck said.  “These are extraordinary, honorable people at the CIA. Make no mistake about it.”

Affleck is a liberal who has spoken against the war in Iraq. His endorsement of Petraeus, therefore, is notable given the general had been a primary target of liberals in 2007 due to his vigorous defense of the Iraq war. In 2007, the progressive group MoveOn.org paid $65,000 for a full-page ad in the New York Times that read: “General Petraeus or General Betray Us?”

Email: Paul.Bond@thr.com