Bill O’Reilly Defends Bob Costas, Explains Karl Rove’s Election Night Meltdown on ‘Tonight Show’ (Video)

Bill O'Reilly Jay Leno Tonight Show - H 2012

NBC “The Tonight Show”/Paul Drinkwater

Fox News Channel's Bill O'Reilly touched on topics ranging from Bob Costas' recent gun-control comments to Karl Rove's Election Night meltdown to South Korean sensation Psy on Thursday's The Tonight Show.

Costas has taken some heat for his halftime essay during Sunday's Philadelphia Eagles-Dallas Cowboys game, during which he criticized America's "gun culture." His rant was spurred by Saturday's tragedy involving Kansas City Chiefs starting linebacker Jovan Belcher, who fatally shot his girlfriend before killing himself in front of his coach and GM.

VIDEO: Bob Costas Preaches Gun Control During Halftime of Eagles-Cowboys Game

O'Reilly defended Costas, who appeared on Wednesday night's The O'Reilly Factor, and his decision to make his remarks during Sunday's NFL game.

"It was a boring football game," he said. "If he wanted to liven it up, fine. And it was in context. ... It was a huge story, and he did exactly what he should have done."

Meanwhile, on Nov. 6, Election Night, Rove appeared on Fox News, where he refused to accept the network's decision to call Ohio for President Obama. He spent a good half-hour insisting there were too many outstanding votes to make any declarations in the presidential election.

O'Reilly on Thursday told Tonight Show host Jay Leno that Rove's so-called tantrum "was the only thing that kept me from falling asleep."

Attempting to explain the confrontation, O'Reilly added: "Rove is a numbers guy and thought Fox News called Ohio for the president too soon ... and started to break the desk and set things on fire."

VIDEO: Karl Rove Argues With Fox News Experts, Says Ohio Call for Obama Win Was 'Premature'

Asked why Rove was so adamant that Fox News' decision desk was so wrong, O'Reilly said: "Because he wanted Romney to win."

O'Reilly also continued his own rant against Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee for his decision to call the statehouse Christmas tree a "holiday tree" and reiterated his previous argument that Psy's "Gangnam Style" dance is really just another version of Chubby Checker's The Pony.

"This is the pony -- remember Chubby Checker?" he asked the audience. "Chubby Checker should be suing this guy's butt."

He continued: "So this guy probably sees an old tape of Chubby and says, 'I'm Chubby. I'll do it too.' He makes a fortune."

The Tonight Show airs at 11:35 weeknights on NBC. Watch two clips from Thursday's show below.

Kimberly Nordyke