Fox News officially let Bill O’Reilly go in April after revelations of settlements (paid by O’Reilly and Fox) related to a lengthy history of sexual harassment allegations. His lawyers “accidentally” leaked emails that revealed the animosity between O’Reilly and his employer, but this didn’t stop Fox News from letting him guest with Sean Hannity. The host even put down the vape pen to welcome his pal, who quickly pointed at the camera and — for old time’s sake (as seen in the above clip) — declared, “The spin stops here!”
Officially, O’Reilly was on hand to discuss his newest book, Killing England, while declaring, “I’m alive!” From there, he told Hannity that he didn’t miss “the daily grind.” And of course, he weighed in on this week’s massive NFL controversy, which saw Trump feud with the NFL after #TakeAKnee protests continued as inspired by Colin Kaepernick. Unsurprisingly, O’Reilly’s not a fan of the NFL’s support of those who kneel during the national anthem. The former Fox News host was particularly disgusted at how the Jaguars and Ravens knelt in London. Here’s what he had to say:
“When the Jaguars and the Ravens were over in London, and they kneeled down on a foreign soil, and then they stood up for the British national anthem. About 3,000 miles east of you, there are American military people in Kandahar, Afghanistan … Now I was over there in ’07. I watched football games with them … Can you imagine putting your life on the line in Afghanistan and having just the leisure time and wanting the watch a football game and seeing your players, your American players, disrespect the country and the flag on foreign soil?”
Given how O’Reilly reportedly embellished his Falklands war coverage for CBS News (way back in 1982), it’s hard to believe that he’s telling the absolute truth about watching football in 2007 with the U.S. Army in Afghanistan. Well, maybe he is being truthful? It’s hard to judge and really of no consequence here. What really matters is that — like many who oppose NFL protests — O’Reilly believes the players are simply characterizing the U.S. as an “evil country where white supremacists stalk innocent blacks,” all while he insists that this has nothing to do with race.
Also, O’Reilly tried to contextualize Killing England in terms of colonial versus contemporary U.S. history. In doing so, he states, “Ben Franklin was the Hugh Hefner of his time!” Hannity loves it. Watch below.
(Via Fox News)