Bill’s gab fest with the prez

SUNDAY’S Trump-O’Reilly interview. Given the egos of both dudes, maybe it was the O’Reilly-Trump interview.

It was Bill’s seventh presidential sit-down and his third Superbowler White House hoo-hah in a row. Obama, who can concoct an answer while stirring his pot of poi, fielded the questions while cooking. This Sunday it got done grocery-less.

The yearly Q&A is usu- ally done Day Of but Trump — off to Mar-a-Lago for a Red Cross gala — pretaped.

Bill: “Flying from LA, I arrived 3 a.m. Two hours sleep. We taped in the first floor Flag Room. Sitting in were his economic adviser, daughter, son-inlaw, VP, p.r. person, tons of people. Three cameras, 40 minutes, nobody requested questions in advance, no do-not-ask-such-and-such rules beforehand.

“Never seeing him conduct business before, I note he was sharper than in social settings. Very focused. No time for chitchat beforehand. It was limited to his saying: ‘How come you’re taller than I am?’ He took pictures with the crew and a moment to be gracious to them.”

Both men embodied similar bent forward toward one another pos- ture. O’Reilly’s done chief executives way before Lincoln, but isn’t there some small frisson of nerves before interrogating a sitting President of the United States of America?

“I was blunt but not condemning. His answers were straightforward. And take into consideration he knows I’ll be tough but not accusatory and I wasn’t trying to hurt him.

“Look, you can only take something up to the line. Not cross it. As he answers you can’t push him as you would an ordinary citizen, nor can you give him jazz as with anyone else. You go to the next question. You must respect the office.”

So Sunday, did O’Reilly tune in to his Super Bowl super-sit-down? You bet your asset. And sitting in hi-s own house on his own couch watching his own TV.