On his webcast, O’Reilly praised Fox News National Security Correspondent Jennifer Griffin for her spunk to go against the grain, but overall condemned his former employer, saying that it’s “a totally different operation now.”
O’Reilly began commending Griffin for her tenacity to correct fellow Fox hosts and guests on comments they’ve made about Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Griffin has been at the Pentagon constantly these last few weeks providing the majority of Fox News shows with updates on the strife in Europe.
O’Reilly played a clip of Griffin responding to remarks by Fox News guest Douglas Macgregor who talked about the West and NATO vilifying President Vladimir Putin. Griffin immediately said she felt like she needed to correct all of the “distortions” that Macgregor shared.
O’Reilly gave “kudos” to Griffin for correcting the information.
“Now, why I’m running that clip is—not only to show you how gutsy she is—is that it used to be that propagandists would be slapped down hard and now they’re not,” O’Reilly said.
He continued to say that not just Fox, but all TV news stations hurl propaganda and the networks are allowing it to happen.
“Not just on Fox, but on every television news program,” said O’Reilly. “I turn on the TV set, it doesn’t matter whether it’s the network morning shows, the late-night comedians, the cable news across the board—two left, one right—propaganda is just spat out there and the people running the shows are just sitting there going like this,” Reilly said, motioning like a bobblehead.
O’Reilly went on to say that Macgregor’s interview was “a bunch of garbage.” But he laid blame on Fox asking why the interview was allowed to be aired in the first place. He said that would have never happened on his show.
“You can’t do that!” O’Reilly said. “That’s a disservice to the American people. You’ve got to know enough about the subject that you are involved with as an anchor or a host, that if somebody says something that’s propagandistic, you challenge. And that is what Jennifer Griffin was doing.”
He concluded by saying today’s hosts and anchors are “too afraid” to call guests out on inaccuracies because networks are afraid of controversy.
“Why are you guys wasting your time watching this stuff?” he asked the audience. “I’m looking out for you.”
Fox News forced O’Reilly out after the disclosure of a series of sexual harassment allegations against him and an internal investigation that turned up even more.
Newsweek reached out to Fox News and O’Reilly for comment, but did not hear back in time for publication.
