Al Gore Gets Ambushed By Bill O’Reilly’s Producer Jesse Watters

Tonight The O’Reilly Factor, aired another of producer Jesse Watters‘s signature ambush videos — though tonight he landed the largest of whales: former Vice President Al Gore. In hindsight, it’s sort of predictable that O’Reilly would use his minions to target the auteur behind An Inconvenient Truth, which actually makes Gore’s evasive reaction even odder. You’d think he’d be prepared. With charts. Video below:

The real take away from the clip was that Al Gore saying “I don’t believe in ambush journalism” and that “I’m not doing an interview now, I’m having lunch.” More instructive was host Bill O’Reilly‘s reaction coming out of the clip, claiming “we certainly mean no disrespect to the Vice President” with a sheepish, and self-satisfied grin. One wonders, however, just how O’Reilly would react if he were the target of such an ambush attack by producers at CurrentTV. Now that would be fun to watch!

After teasing the segment throughout the day (and past weekend), O’Reilly had viewers wait for nearly 50 minutes to see the clip after interminable “you gotta see this” hype. It is interesting to see how graceful a public figure deals with unexpected media request without the aid of a publicist, which on this count, you’d have to give Gore a victory. The other takeaway? Al Gore can apparently walk and chew at the same time. Thanks Jesse Watters, for your unique (and entertaining) contribution to journalism!

New: The Mediaite One-Sheet "Newsletter of Newsletters"
Your daily summary and analysis of what the many, many media newsletters are saying and reporting. Subscribe now!