Last night, in the wake of the gruesome terror attack in Nice, France, Bill O’Reilly scooped the rest of the television industry by getting both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton on the phone for reactions.

Yes, you read that correctly: Hillary Clinton called in to Bill O’Reilly to chat on air, reacting to big news.

Eat your hearts out, ABCNBCCBSCNNMSNBCHLN.

I watched in fascination as Bill O’Reilly subtly needled Hillary Clinton in the course of the broadcast, trying to get her on air.  Getting Trump on was no trick, of course.  His willingness to call in to television shows is starting to be recognized as a key success factor in his unconventional campaign.  His willingness to risk gaffes, commit gaffes, and recover is rewriting the political book.

Bill O’Reilly noted that his program was trying to reach Hillary Clinton for comment, as Trump expressed his views.  He later reiterated his desire to get Hillary on the phone.

It doesn’t take a lot of imagination to picture the scene at Team Hillary.  They had already been on the phone to Fox News.  Do they continue to refuse to comment?  O'Reilly is implicitly mocking their candidate for her inaccessibility.  Hillary knows she’s in trouble, and that her aloofness from the media is costing her in voter support, and in media attitudes toward her.  She is no longer the inevitable victor.  There was no doubt a debate on whether she should call in, and if so, what she should say.

In the end, O’Reilly’s invitation to appear was accepted.  And this establishes him as the bigfoot of television.  His huge viewership combined with his propensity to take on political figures was enough to scare Hillary out of her clamshell.

The only question now is whether Hillary will start calling in to more shows, like Trump.