O’Reilly
statement about gay-friendly candidates debunked

Conservative pundit Bill O'Reilly said on his Fox News cable show The O'Reilly Factor August 13 that a majority of Americans would not vote for a presidential candidate who is backed by a gay rights group. Media watchdog Web site MediaMatters.org debunked his statement Wednesday after failing to locate the poll O'Reilly cited.

In the exchange between the host and correspondent Kirsten Powers, O'Reilly said that a recent poll, possibly by the Pew Research Center, showed that candidates would lose votes for being endorsed by a gay group. His statement was related to a discussion about the Logo presidential candidate forum that featured the Democratic candidates answering questions exclusively about gay issues.

"OK, but say a gay--the question posed, 'If a gay rights organization endorses you, would that make you more or less likely to vote?' [sic] And most Americans said less likely," he said, according to MediaMatters.

Powers argued that most Americans are not knowledgeable about what groups are endorsing which candidates.

Media Matters was unable to find such a Pew poll but instead found an August 6-8 Quinnipiac poll that showed voters from Florida, Pennsylvania, and Ohio would be willing to vote for a candidate who was backed by a gay rights group. In Florida, 60% said it would make no difference, as did 54% from Ohio and 59% from Pennsylvania. Ten percent of voters from Florida and Ohio said they would be more likely to vote for a gay-friendly candidate; 11% said the same in Pennsylvania. Nearly a third in each state said they would be less likely to vote for the candidate. (The Advocate)