After an early-morning brawl between Fox News contributor Jesse Watters and the Huffington Post’s Ryan Grim after the White House Correspondents’ Dinner, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly slammed Grim Monday night as a “far left zealot.”
Early on in the show, O’Reilly recounted the backstory of the run-in between Grim and Watters. In video posted by HuffPost of the minutes leading up to the confrontation, Grim asks Watters to apologize for ambushing his colleague Amanda Terkel in 2009 over a story she wrote about O’Reilly’s remarks about rape victims.
“This is what the far left does. They seek to harm people with whom they disagree,” O’Reilly said during his talking points commentary.
After playing Watters’ segment on the show, the theme of which the correspondent said was “making people extremely uncomfortable, as usual,” Watters downplayed the fight in a sit-down with O’Reilly.
“It was really small ball,” he said. “I was at this party trying to enjoy myself. This guy came up to me with a camera phone. I don’t even know who this guy is. He starts putting it in my face.”
“I was friendly at first and then he started getting a little obnoxious and things happened and I regret that it happened and that’s all it is,” Watters continued.
After Watters said he “never punched” Grim – contrary to reports from witnesses – O’Reilly cracked, “See, I would’ve. I would be in jail!”
The Fox News host also gave Watters an opening to say he doesn’t drink much and was only drinking water the night of the Correspondents’ Dinner.
