Stay up to date with notifications from The Independent

Notifications can be managed in browser preferences.

Russell Brand attacks Fox presenter Bill O'Reilly for 'Berlin Wall immigration solution'

Comedian takes aim at anchor's "wacky ideas to curb immigration"

Natasha Culzac
Friday 08 August 2014 10:46 BST
Comments
Russell Brand takes on Bill O'Reilly
Russell Brand takes on Bill O'Reilly (Getty)

Russell Brand is firmly sticking the proverbial knife into Fox News, continually swapping the target of his acerbic lashings between presenter Sean Hannity to one of the channel’s other bulwarks, Bill O’Reilly.

Last month, the comedian used his YouTube channel to decry everything that he considers wrong with conservative, right-wing news outlet Fox.

Scroll down to see video

His latest attack, posted on Wednesday, takes aim at a segment in which O’Reilly “advocates yet more wacky ideas to curb immigrants”.

O’Reilly, who’s the inspiration for Stephen Colbert’s The Colbert Report, was speaking to political pundit and former Deputy Chief of Staff to President George W Bush Karl Rove when he began promoting the idea of a “border fence like they did in East Germany”.

He said not implementing a Berlin Wall or Israeli-style barrier between the US and Mexico was a "mistake".

Brand shoots it down: “That wasn’t a triumph of social engineering or even architecture, that wall became a symbol of all that was wrong with the world.”

O’Reilly continues to encourage the aforementioned idea as a “formidable obstacle” perfect for restricting the movement of people.

He also advocates the implementation of National Guard to “stop the madness” such as with the “Rodney King riots” and “Hurricane Katrina,” presumably referring to the looting and chaos resulting from as Brand calls it “no social infrastructure” and the displacement of millions.

He ends on: “America, Land of the Free? Bill, you’re a disgrace to your flag.”

His latest video is part of a slew of political commentaries by the actor, as he grapples with thorny subjects such as drug legislation and Scottish independence.

He engaged another Fox News presenter Sean Hannity in an “online spat” following his dissection of Hannity’s interviewing technique and Israel-Gaza coverage.

Join our commenting forum

Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies

Comments

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged inPlease refresh your browser to be logged in