O'Reilly: Palin as Smart as Pelosi

Sarah Palin may need to bone up on her policy knowledge, but there’s no evidence that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is any smarter, says Bill O’Reilly of Fox News.

He declined to offer an opinion on Palin’s qualifications for the presidency, but added, “I can say that the governor with me has acquitted herself quite well.”

Editor's Note: See the video clip below.

Editor's Note: See the exclusive Newsmax interview with Bill O'Reilly in its entirety here.

That doesn’t mean Palin is a finished product, says “The O’Reilly Factor” host.

“Sarah Palin definitely needs to up her frame of reference,” he said.

“She needs to go in and do heavy duty public policy studying – how things happen, why they happen.”

But she’s indeed doing that, O’Reilly points out. “She’s hired people to bring her up to speed.” And probably all politicians could benefit from boning up a bit on the issues, he says.

As for Pelosi, “Are you telling me Nancy Pelosi is smarter than Sarah Palin? Let’s see how Nancy Pelosi does on the No Spin Zone (his show).”

Pelosi refuses his invitation, O’Reilly says.

“Why? I’m not going to attack her personally. We’ll talk issues,” he said.

“Palin sat there, why can’t Nancy Pelosi? Who are you going to bet on, who’s smarter? It’s going to be a pretty interesting deal if she comes in and sits across from me. She won’t, and that says a lot.”