Marc Lamont Hill to O'Reilly: 'Poor, White' Janitors Are the Only Republicans at Columbia University

Liberal commentator and Columbia University professor Marc Lamont Hill joked Tuesday on "The O'Reilly Factor" that only "janitors" and "poor white guys" vote Republican at Columbia.

Hill, who was discussing the supposed anti-intellectualism of the Republican Party, slipped the comments into a moment of lighthearted banter with Bill O'Reilly, when O'Reilly accused him of not actually knowing any Republicans.

Declaring "Republicans don't pick the smart guy," Hill explained: "Every time someone comes up who conjugates a verb properly, you know who makes a literary reference, Republicans dismiss him. Look at how you guys beat up...on guys like John Kerry for speaking French, they beat up on Barack Obama saying he's too professorial."

"Whenever someone seems too intelligent and actually attempts to make a nuanced argument they say he's not good enough," Hill continued. "It's like Republicans wants someone -- they want a cowboy!"

Here's a transcript of the next few moments:

O'Reilly: "And you came to this conclusion by doing what, a poll? A national poll? I don't think you know a Republican!"

Hill: "I know lots -- some of my best friends are Republican Bill! I've even had them at my house," Hill said.

O'Reilly: "There's one Republican at Columbia University and you don't know him!"

Hill: "All the janitors are Republican!"

O'Reilly: "So the janitors are Republican, that's nice!"

Hill: "A bunch of poor white guys who vote Republican."

O'Reilly: "But what if I'd said that about, you know -- !"

Getting back to his original point, Hill continued: "If you look at Republican nominees, they're the ones who people like, they like people who are down to earth, the guy you can grab a beer with."

When O'Reilly challenged that Democratic voters are the same way, Hill said it doesn't affect who they nominate for president.

"We tend to nominate smart people. Barack Obama was a law professor. You know we have people like John Kerry, who was very smart, even Bill Clinton was smart," Hill said.

When O'Reilly brought up that former President George W. Bush bush was a Harvard Business School graduate and a Yale undergraduate, Hill laughed.

"That was white peoples' affirmative action, he was a legacy!" Hill said. "His grades were two standard deviations below the norm."

Hill cautioned that he's not saying "Republicans like dumb people," but "they don't like people who perform intellectuality in public spaces."

Watch Hill's full appearance below, via Mediaite. The discussion about anti-intellectualism starts about a minute in:

(H/T: Blaze reader Michael)