Bill O’Reilly warned Wednesday that President Donald Trump’s legacy could be on the line in the upcoming midterm elections, arguing that a Democratic takeover of both chambers of Congress would effectively derail the remainder of Trump’s presidency.
Speaking on the latest edition of “No Spin News,” O’Reilly laid out what he sees as the potential consequences of the elections as Republicans currently control both the House of Representatives and the Senate.
O’Reilly said the worst possible outcome for Trump would be Democrats capturing both chambers, predicting such a result would lead to relentless investigations and political battles targeting the president.
“But if the Democrats win the Senate and the House, it’s over for President Trump. It’s over,” O’Reilly said.
He predicted Democrats would impeach Trump, pursue lawsuits against him and repeatedly launch new actions that would consume Washington while preventing the president’s legislative agenda from moving forward.
“So, it’s going to be two years of, ‘Let’s get Trump,’” O’Reilly said, adding that he believes both Democrats and the media want such an outcome.
O’Reilly argued that Democrats would spend their time attacking Trump rather than pursuing other priorities, saying the likely consequences of a Democratic sweep require little political analysis.
However, the commentator said Republicans would not necessarily have to maintain control of both chambers to prevent that scenario.
If control of Congress were divided between the parties, O’Reilly argued, Republicans holding at least one chamber would be enough to prevent Democrats from launching an all-out offensive against Trump.
That makes the midterms intensely personal for the president, according to O’Reilly.
“So, this thing is very personal for Donald Trump because he’s got to know that the Republicans have got to take at least one house,” O’Reilly said.
O’Reilly went so far as to compare the potential damage to Trump’s legacy with what happened to former President Lyndon Johnson, whose presidency was consumed by the Vietnam War.
“It has to, or his whole legacy blows up, goes down like LBJ, Lyndon Johnson,” O’Reilly said.
He referenced his book, “Confronting the Presidents,” while arguing that Vietnam ultimately destroyed Johnson’s presidency. O’Reilly also described Johnson as corrupt and called him “one of our worst presidents.”
O’Reilly then pointed to two major issues he believes Republicans and Trump must improve heading into the elections: Iran and consumer prices.
He described the situation with Iran as unresolved and said consumer prices remain high enough to leave Americans unhappy, even though he characterized them as “not crazy high.”
Those issues, O’Reilly concluded, are areas where Trump and the Republican Party will need to show improvement as the midterm elections approach.
