Fox News' Bill O'Reilly Laughs Off Roger Ailes' Comments

Bill O’Reilly went with laughter being the best medicine in regards to the revealing comments that Fox News President Roger Ailes made about the news commentator.

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While on a publicity tour for his latest book, Killing Lincoln, O’Reilly made a stop at the Don Imus show on Tuesday. Imus asked The O'Reilly Factor host about the comments that Ailes has made in a recent Newsweek interview, saying that O'Reilly "hates" Sean Hannity and is “frightened” by Glenn Beck.

STORY: Fox News Undergoing 'Course Correction' From Far Right Viewpoint, Says Roger Ailes

"Roger loves to be a provocateur," O’Reilly said. "Why would I have Glenn Beck on my program every Friday and go out on the road with him if I was frightened by him?"

When Imus asked about his views on Hannity, O’Reilly responded, "Oh, that's absolutely true…but I hate everybody."

STORY: Roger Ailes Doesn't Care if People Say Glenn Beck Quit or Got Fired

In the candid interview with Newsweek, Ailes, whose contract with Fox News ends in 2013, spoke about a “course correction” for the news network to appeal to a wider audience. He told the publication that former host Glenn Beck’s controversial comments about Obama being a racist “became a bit of a branding issue for us.” Beck left Fox News in July.

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Many of the current crop of Republican presidential candidates have been to visit Ailes, including frontrunners Rick Perry and Mitt Romney. Ailes offers his assessment of the candidates. Of Perry, he says he has a look that "if he tells people he's gonna kick their ass, he might actually do it, which is useful for a president."