Bill O’Reilly says he may return to TV, but a new boss will have to fight off the “far left” in this “vicious age.”
In a chat with Newsmax host John Bachman, he said: “We’re living in a pretty vicious age now. Whoever I work for is going to have to have a lot of courage to stop the far left from attacking sponsors and spreading lies about people.”
Of course, Fox News Channel had cause to fire him beyond possible loss of commercial sponsors.
As The Hill noted: “O’Reilly lost more than 50 advertisers after a New York Times story on April 1 reported that he paid five women $13 million in payouts over allegations of sexual harassment or inappropriate behavior.”
A month ago, The Wrap reported: “Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy said he thinks ‘very highly’ of former Fox News star Bill O’Reilly … according to Politico’s Hadas Gold, who tweeted that Ruddy would be ‘very open’ to hiring him.”
O’Reilly also is arguing that he might still be host of “The Factor” today if he has stood up to his accusers as much as colleague Sean Hannity did.
“Hannity actually fought back,” O’Reilly said. “I didn’t. I should have. For reasons that I cannot explain now, I did not.”
Other takes on O’Reilly return to punditry (aside from his Twitter feed):
As @billoreilly attempts to stage his comeback, never forget –> Bill O’Reilly: An awful, awful man https://t.co/Xl1055PzHs @nytopinion
— John Clayton (@Gravelpits) June 9, 2017
Bill O’Reilly Makes Surprising Announcement About His Future Plans – FANS SHOCKED! https://t.co/ZHNd7v4gnS
— TroubledNot (@butdontpush) June 8, 2017
Join me: Stop Bill O’Reilly’s Comeback Tour https://t.co/yAfCaVjclW
— Ted Leibowitz (@TedLeibowitz) June 7, 2017
Bill O’Reilly Said He’ll Return To TV If ‘Lies’ From ‘Far Left’ Don’t Stop Him https://t.co/Vr4ellCd8D pic.twitter.com/hR4eFjEJfU
— Héctor Castillo (@Hecastill) June 9, 2017
@billoreilly Mr. O’Reilly, @FoxNews is the big loser, not you. You will return when you’re ready to return in a venue thatStompsThem. #DTS
— Garth Kirkwood (@garthkirkwood) June 9, 2017