Bill O’Reilly, presenter of The O’Reilly Factor, made a rather bold statement in an interview with Newsweek this week:
I have more power than anybody other than the president, in the sense that I can get things changed, quickly. I don’t have to go through the legislative process; I don’t have to do any of that. I can just bring it to the people, and say, look, this has gotta be dealt with.
It’s actually a step back from comments he made last year, when he was asked whether he would run for presidency in 2012:
I have more power doing what I’m doing.
O’Reilly certainly has huge influence as a leading presenter on America’s “most trusted” news channel. However, as the Huffington Post points out, he may have a slightly inflated idea of his own importance — for example, offering to broker the debt ceiling negotiations earlier this year.