If O’Reilly did get this, his broadcasts would be very different. (From Wikipedia)

When asked in an out-of-character interview with The Onion‘s A.V. Club for his views on “the ‘truthiness’ imbroglio that’s tearing our country apart”, Colbert elaborated on the critique he intended to convey with the word:^[3]

Truthiness is tearing apart our country, and I don’t mean the argument over who came up with the word…It used to be, everyone was entitled to their own opinion, but not their own facts. But that’s not the case anymore. Facts matter not at all. Perception is everything. It’s certainty. People love the President because he’s certain of his choices as a leader, even if the facts that back him up don’t seem to exist. It’s the fact that he’s certain that is very appealing to a certain section of the country. I really feel a dichotomy in the American populace. What is important? What you want to be true, or what is true?…

Truthiness is ‘What I say is right, and [nothing] anyone else says could possibly be true.’ It’s not only that I feel it to be true, but that I feel it to be true. There’s not only an emotional quality, but there’s a selfish quality.

During an interview on December 8, 2006 with Charlie Rose,^[12] Colbert stated:

‘I was thinking of the idea of passion and emotion and certainty over information. And what you feel in your gut, (as I said in the first Wørd we did, which was sort of a thesis statement of the whole show – however long it lasts – is that sentence, that one word), that’s more important to, I think, the public at large, and not just the people who provide it in prime-time cable, than information.’