Bill O’Reilly’s No Spin News and Analysis - The O'Reilly Update, August 23, 2023

Episode Date: August 23, 2023

GOP candidates gather for the first debate, Joe Biden goes on vacation, COVID restrictions return, and a new survey reveals the road rage capital of America. Plus, the Message of the Day, how a lack of literacy is impacting America. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bill O'Reilly here. You are listening to the O'Reilly Update. Coming up next, the news with Mike Slater. Thank you, Bill. It's Wednesday, August 23rd, 2023. You're listening to the O'Reilly Update here as it's happening today in America. The Republican candidates gather in Milwaukee. Joe Biden resumes his vacation.

Good for him. He needs a break. COVID restrictions return? Yes, that's right. I said it's 2023. COVID restrictions return, and a new survey reveals the road rage capital of America. That's all coming up. Then I will be here with the message of the day.

But first, the first Republican primary debate taking place in Milwaukee tonight. The top candidates, except the top candidate, will share a stage for the first time. We've got eight of them. Ron DeSantis, Vivek Ramaswamy, I always pronounced it, Vivek, it is Vivek, Tim Scott, Nikki Haley, Mike Penn. Doug Bergam, Chris Christie, and Asa Hutchinson. Now, Larry Elder claims that he reached all the thresholds, including 40,000 donors and at least 1% in three polls. But the Republican Party, even after this man has spent his whole life espousing conservative principles and fighting the good fight, claims that one of those polls is a Donald Trump-affiliated poll and doesn't count.

They're keeping him out of the debate. He's suing them. Joe Biden is resuming his vacation in Lake Tahoe after a quick stop in Maui. The president tore damage from the deadly wildfires. We're going to talk about this in the final segment of today's O'Reilly update. Video shows Biden falling asleep while meeting with victims and family members. To date, Biden has spent 376 days on vacation since his inauguration. That's nearly 40% of his presidency and remember the first thing he said about this.

this disaster, he was asked if he had anything to say to the victims of the wildfire. And he said, no comment. A few colleges and companies are bringing back COVID restrictions. A new variant causing cases to rise. Some Hollywood studios are requiring masking for employees. A college in Atlanta mandating face covers for the new semester, but only for 14 days, don't you know? 14 days to stop the spread.

Amazing. One nearly all universities and colleges across the country have. dropped the strictest guidelines, a few holdouts remain. Newsweek has ranked the worst cities in America for road rage. Top of the list, Los Angeles, Chicago, New York City, and Houston. The most dangerous place for drivers, Washington, D.C. If you're looking to avoid a fight on your daily commute, then you need to go to Louisville, Kentucky. What percentage of Americans do you believe are illiterate?

That's the message of the day related to the debate coming up tonight. Next. Let's face it, the U.S. economy is under stress. National debt rising, trade war, shaking the markets. And meanwhile, China is dumping the dollar and stockpiling gold. That's why I protected my savings with physical gold and silver. Thoreau, the only dealer I trust, American Hartford Gold. And you can do this.

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Now it's time for the O'Reilly Update message of the day. In light of the debate tonight, do you know how many people in America can't read? Let's go back in time. America during the Revolution era, mid-1700s, were some of the most literate people in history. Between 89 and 95% of men were literate. Literacy rates for women were at 62%. For comparison's sake, the male literacy rate in England at that time was lower than 40% for men in England.

Our revolutionary era, we had one of the most literate societies in the world. Now where are we? today the literacy rate for adults is 79% they think oh that's still pretty high yeah well literate is a low bar only 54% of adults have a sixth grade reading level that's 130 million Americans can't read at a sixth grade level most newspapers are written at a 10th or 11th grade level so most of a vast majority of Americans cannot read the newspaper I think this could be the biggest problem that most people aren't aware of that most Americans can't read when in colonial times everyone could read so what is one of the problems with this well as it relates to the debate

back in the day when our country was founded and grew to become the greatest country in the world deep political discussions were made with the written word in newspapers in particular in pamphlets but now no one can read so now political discussions as we'll see tonight, our had on the TV. With quick sound bites and zippy one-liners and sick burns. Campanying went from, who do I agree with to who do I like? And the TV is all about entertainment. That's why the Tucker Carlson Donald Trump interview is going to be so much more informative

because it won't be purely about entertainment. It'll be about information. The goal of the TV debate format is to amuse, not to inform. Now, that being said, TV is all about entertainment. I don't expect many entertaining moments out of tonight's debate either. I don't know, maybe Doug Bergam will really surprise me. But just to show how far we've digressed, the Iliad was written as a poem to recite. The Iliad takes 15 hours to recite out loud.

15 hours. Before it was printed down, it was recited everywhere. People remembered the 15 hour long poem. That is what humans are capable of. We used to have statesmen who spoke with beautiful oration. Then we had statesmen who wrote beautiful prose. Now we have politicians who perform. And I think people are sick of the performance. I think people are sick of the performance. I think people crave more than anything's truth, but also authenticity. And we'll see how much of that we get tonight. Now, I'll watch, and I'm sure we'll talk about the highlights tomorrow, and I bet there'll be great moments out of the Donald Trump interview with Tucker Carlson, and we'll analyze all

that as well. We'll play the game. But also, we don't need to get too wrapped up in it, because no matter what happens tonight, the big story on Thursday is going to be Trump going to Georgia. to get booked. So, as always, no matter what happens, Trump will be commanding all the attention. Coming up, we'll talk about Joe Biden's trip to Maui. It's coming up. Next. Power, politics, and the people behind the headlines. I'm Miranda Devine, New York Post columnist, and the host of the brand new podcast, Podforce One. Every week, I'll sit down for candid

conversations with Washington's most powerful disruptors, lawmakers, lawmakers, and even the president of the United States. These are the leaders shaping the future of America and the world. Listen to Podforce One with me, Miranda Devine, every week on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcast. You don't want to miss an episode. Hey, I'm Mike Slater, Filner for Bill O'Reilly. for something you might not know.

850 people are still missing in Maui because of the wildfire. 850. How can that be? Before we get to that, Biden went out to Maui, and I don't know how it could have been a worse visit. He went in front of a big group of people, and he did the whole, I feel your pain routine. So he said, not to compare tragedies, but should have stopped there. And then he goes on to tell a story.

about how one time at his lakehouse there was a small kitchen fire and he almost lost his corvette wow he really knows what it's like to lose your entire livelihood but it's very on brand Biden does not have a thing that we humans call compassion passion means to suffer come means whiz so to come compassion means to suffer alongside someone Biden has never been good at this there was a gold star mom who recently told her story, her son died in the Afghanistan withdrawal. And she met Joe Biden in the Oval Office for an event for Gold Star families. She said, Joe Biden came up to her and said, I can understand if you're angry. She started to weep and said, it should never have happened this way. And she says, he stood there stoically, nothing out of his mouth except, well, would you like to get a

photo with me? She said, I'll only take a photo with you if you're standing next to my son. son's tombstone at Arlington National Cemetery. And she says Biden answered, I can't do that because the Secret Service won't let me. I feel like a president could do that if he wanted to. Back to Maui for Joe, it also looks like he fell asleep while at another event. Here's the deal with Maui. 850 people are labeled still missing. It's been two weeks, and we're still saying they're missing?

Why are they not saying the obvious? Why are they delaying this? And when someone asked the mayor of Maui, to his face, how many children are missing, he refused to answer. Why? What are they waiting for? I mean that genuinely, what are they waiting for? It's getting to the point where you have to start asking, what are they trying to hide? An illegal immigrant family gets separated at the border, and it's all over every magazine cover and newspaper in the country.

but we don't know how many children died in a wildfire in our country and the government and the media is not telling us the truth. What's going on there? Why are they waiting? Mike Slater, filming it for Bill O'Reilly. More after this. Hey, I'm Caitlin Becker, the host of the New York Postcast, and I've got exactly what you need to start your weekdays.

Every morning, I'll bring you the stories that matter, plus the news people actually talk about, the juicy details in the worlds of politics, business, pop culture, and everything in between. It's what you want from the New York Post wrapped up in one snappy show. Ask your smart speaker to play the NY Postcast podcast. Listen and subscribe on Amazon Music, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts. Hey, I'm Mike Slater for the podcast Politics by Faith filling and for Bill O'Reilly. Thank you for listening today. We will be back tomorrow with post-debate coverage.

Thank you.