Bill O’Reilly is blaming everyone but himself for the allegations of sexual harassment against him, which effectively ended his career at Fox News.
His latest target? God himself.
While the ousted Fox News host mostly blames the media for uprooting his cable news reign — by reporting on his sexual harassment settlements with multiple women — he said Monday evening he’s also “mad at God” for the latest reports on his $32 million settlement with an accuser.
“Yeah, I’m mad at him. I wish I had more protection. I wish this stuff didn’t happen. I can’t explain it to you. Yeah, I’m mad at him,” O’Reilly said during his most recent episode of “No Spin News,” according to CNN.
On Saturday, The New York Times reported that O’Reilly reached a $32 million settlement with a former Fox News analyst. Saturday’s news followed reports from the Times in April that O’Reilly and Fox News had paid settlements to five women over the course of 15 years, at the cost of $13 million.
During a Monday morning interview on Glenn Beck’s radio show, O’Reilly claimed the new reports were part of a “hit job” by publications like The New York Times, CNN and Media Matters.
During his “No Spin News” program on Monday evening — which has become his main outlet for political commentary since being forced out of Fox — he said if the Times “could literally kill me, they would.”
“I truly believe that these people at the New York Times are out to hurt people with whom they disagree,” he said. “They don’t want me in the marketplace. That’s what this is all about.”
He continued his typical line of defense — that he did nothing wrong and he agreed to settlements with multiple women in order to protect his children — O’Reilly said that if he “die(s) tomorrow” and gets the opportunity to talk to The New York Times, he’d ask “‘why’d you guys work me over like that?’”
“‘Didn’t (you) know my children were going to be punished? And they’re innocent,” he said, a comment reflective of remarks he made to the Times about the impact sexual harassment allegations can have on a person’s family, citing an incident with fellow former Fox News host Eric Bolling.
Bolling’s son died hours after Fox announced Bolling would leave the network after allegations that he sent inappropriate text message to female colleagues. O’Reilly claimed that Bolling’s son died because of the allegations made against his father, a remark Bolling quickly denounced. O’Reilly apologized on Twitter later Monday.
Watch a clip from his show below:
