Bill O’Reilly called into Fox News’ MediaBuzz Sunday to ht back at his former CBS News colleague Eric Engberg, who previously criticized O’Reilly’s 1982 Falklands War claims.
Engberg wrote a lengthy Facebook post Friday questioning several claims O’Reilly had made regarding his coverage of the war between Argentina and England.
In his post, the former CBS News correspondent demanded for O’Reilly to name the cameraman he claimed was bleeding from the ears after violent riots broke out in Buenos Aires—injuries so bad, O’Reilly claims to have rescued him from the scene.
He also suggested O’Reilly was “misrepresenting the situation he covered” by claiming to be in a “combat zone” when he wasn’t.
Engberg appeared on “Reliable Sources” Sunday, suggesting O’Reilly was trying to “build it [covering the riots in Buenos Aires] up into a more frightening and deadly situation than it really was.” He also claimed there were no troops firing on the protest crowd, contrary to what O’Reilly has said.
For the record, The New York Times also reported tear gas being shot at protestors.
O’Reilly didn’t mince words about Engberg on MediaBuzz: “I don’t think he was there; I don’t think he knows what happened,” O’Reilly said about the protests in Buenos Aires.
“I left the hotel, Engberg was still in the hotel in the Sheraton,” he continued, suggesting Engberg couldn’t be a credible source on whether O’Reilly exaggerated his story on the protests since he never left the hotel room.
“What he just said was a lie,” Engberg told Brian Stelter in reference to O’Reilly claiming Engberg and other CBS colleagues stayed in the hotel during the riots.
O’Reilly became more and more irritated as his Sunday Fox interview continued, calling out Engberg and David Corn: “This is such a smear, and it’s a coordinated smear,” O’Reilly said.
The tense back and forth between O’Reilly and Mother Jones’ David Corn—and now former colleague Engberg—began Thursday when Corn released a report questioning O’Reilly’s claims he was up close in the Falklands war zone in 1982 covering the war when very few reporters were actually able to get close enough to the fighting.
Watch O’Reilly below.