Video News Clips: In Their Own Words

‘Look For Work!’ Bill O’Reilly Torches Corporate Media’s ‘Garbage’ Coverage Of New Medicaid Job Requirements

Screenshot/YouTube/ Bill O'Reilly

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly criticized corporate media outlets on Monday for what he described as fear-mongering coverage of Medicaid work requirements included in President Donald Trump’s “big, beautiful” bill.

The sweeping legislation, which Trump signed on Friday, mandates many able-bodied adults work, volunteer or attend school to qualify for Medicaid, according to Fox News. On his YouTube channel, O’Reilly played a clip of CNN anchor Dana Bash claiming on Sunday that there were widespread worries that Americans who require Medicaid will lose coverage due to verification issues.

WATCH:

“So Bash is a liberal. CNN is a liberal network. They hate Trump. They want the progressives in power,” O’Reilly said after playing the clip. “And so her questioning is all about, ‘Oh, you’re going to throw these poor people off the rolls. Babies won’t have this, people will die,’ all of this.”

He then defended the work requirements as a justifiable condition for receiving taxpayer-funded benefits.

“It’s estimated 9 million people will lose Medicaid coverage in the next ten years or so because they will not conform to the new rules. What are the new rules? A — 20 hours a week you have to either look for a job or volunteer at a place that needs your services — charity, a church, a hospital, whatever it may be, okay? That’s not onerous,” O’Reilly said. “I work 60 hours a week. You probably work tons of hours, too. 20 hours a week to get a full health care Medicaid profile, and you’re not willing to do it? Out of here!”

He argued it is unfair for able-bodied Americans who refuse to be productive to receive government-funded health care.

“40 states have no requirements for Medicaid at all. That means that layabouts and alcoholics and drug addicts and everybody else can get free health care through the states and reimbursed by the feds for nothing, because they don’t want to work,” O’Reilly said. “They want to get high or they’re lazy or whatever. I’m not paying for their health care. Am I a mean guy? No! I’m a fair guy.”

“So that’s all it is! You got to look for work! ‘I don’t want that!’ MSNBC, all the network — ‘Oh no, no! You’re going to throw these people off!’ What a bunch of garbage!” he continued. “I mean, any sane society would say, ‘Yeah, you got a responsibility. If you’re going to take taxpayer money, then you got to give something back! Look around! And then twice a year you got to inform the government how much money you got. That unreasonable? No! it isn’t.”

Bash made the comments on “State of the Union with Jake Tapper and Dana Bash” during an interview with Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, who disagreed with her framing.

“I’m sure you’ve seen and heard a lot of the concern, including, and especially from Republicans who are the most vocal in Congress, about the fact that those work requirements are going to be very cumbersome to actually prove,” Bash said. “And it will inevitably force the people who need that Medicaid coverage off the rolls.”

“Well, first of all, the Republicans are not the most vocal on this. It is a group of Democrats who, unfortunately, seem to think that poor people are stupid. I don’t think poor people are stupid,” Bessent replied. “I think they have agency. And I think to have them register twice a year for these benefits is not a burden — but these people who want to infantilize the poor and those who need these Medicaid benefits are alarmists.”