Juan Williams Agrees With the President’s Comment That the ‘Private Sector Is Doing Fine’

After President Obama stated last week that the “private sector’s doing fine” there was immediate fallout forcing him to retract and amend his comments. Tonight on The O’Reilly Factor, guest Juan Williams defended the president, saying, “He didn’t say the economy’s doing fine. He said the private sector’s doing fine. And the private sector is doing fine.”

Williams cited a number of improvements including the NASDAQ and Dow Jones rising significantly since 2009. Bill O’Reilly pointed out that companies still aren’t hiring, to which Williams said that’s a different issue.

O’Reilly asked, “Wait a minute Juan, doesn’t the private sector include working people?”

Williams maintained his stance that “it’s not the private sector that has any problem” because they’re making the choice not to hire.

Mary Katharine Ham weighed in, “If the private sector as Juan says is making a decision not to hire, it’s partly because they feel like they’re not doing fine. And the people who are out there unemployed who would like a job in the private sector do not feel like those companies are doing fine because they’re not finding jobs. And what the president said was so close to saying the economy’s doing fine because most people think of the economy as the private sector.”

O’Reilly concluded that President Obama doesn't like the private sector. Williams argued, “Everybody says that in the midst of an economic pullback, the government has to fulfill the role of stimulating … the economy.”