That reporters Maggie Haberman and Glenn Thrush would come at President Trump with this sort of nonsense is no surprise, but you just have to say “wow” when they come up with illogical nonsense like this.

Mr. Trump also criticized media outlets, including The New York Times, for failing to adequately cover the Rice controversy — while singling out Fox News and the host Bill O’Reilly for praise, despite a Times report of several women who have accused Mr. O’Reilly of harassment. The president then went on to defend Mr. O’Reilly, who has hosted him frequently over the years.

What do sexual harassment allegations about O’Reilly have to do with his coverage of Susan Rice’s dishonesty? I don’t know what O’Reilly actually did, if anything, but it doesn’t deflect the reality of Susan Rice’s actions, which the media at large has essentially ignored or dismissed as a “fake scandal.” Does O’Reilly’s alleged bad behavior make his reporting less accurate or truthful? Keep in mind that left wing journalists were the people who told us that Bill Clinton’s sexual predation had no relevance to his fitness to lead the country. Certainly that same logic would apply to a television talking head covering a news story.

Trump doesn’t do himself any favors in this situation either though.

“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” said Mr. Trump, who during the interview was surrounded at his desk by a half-dozen of his highest-ranking aides, including the economic adviser Gary Cohn and the chief of staff, Reince Priebus, along with Vice President Mike Pence.

“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” said Mr. Trump. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”

Repeat after me, Mr. President, “I don’t know the details of what happened there, so it wouldn’t be appropriate for me to comment.”