Chris Cuomo and his guest Bill O’Reilly had to go to the depths of darkness to do it, but they found something to agree on: A “crisis” on the scale of the 9/11 terrorist attacks could finally bring Americans back together.
The political polar-opposite pundit pals were taking callers’ questions Wednesday night on the NewsNation show “Cuomo” when “Dusty from Jupiter, Florida,” threw down this humdinger:
“Considering the political environment that we’re in today, where each side of the aisle just wants to go after each other — when do you think this will ever end?”
After some crosstalk, Cuomo said it: “What I’m worried about is that it’s going to take a massive crisis, and I don’t want to see that — God forbid, God forbid.”
“It’s not a bad point,” O’Reilly interjected. “After 9/11, the country came together after the Bush-Gore election.”
O’Reilly’s example, ominous though it may be, is easily confirmed by anyone old enough to have lived through those times. But O’Reilly then threw out another way forward — at least his vision for it:
“Look, it’s going to take a charismatic leader, somebody to rise up and say, let’s stop the nonsense in this country and let’s do the right thing for the majority of Americans,” evoking Ronald Reagan’s terms after some tough years under Jimmy Carter.
Cuomo had his own theory on the “second-worst polarization after the Civil War” — and a little love for the former Fox News host, too:
“They are pretending to hate each other, OK?” the former CNN host said. “I’m telling you, I don’t hang out with the D.C. types — I’m more of a New York guy — but I’m telling you, they see each other. They do not feel the way they do when they’re on TV… It does not work for them to do what I do with Bill. I like him. I care about him, OK? I value his friendship. I’m not going to say whatever I can to destroy him. Because it works.”
Watch the entire exchange in the video above.
