Disgraced Bill O'Reilly, 72, accuses cable news anchors including Fox News of 'playing to the choir' and says network is 'a different place' than when he was there
- Bill O'Reilly was a star of Fox News from its early days in 1996 until he was force out amid sexual misconduct allegations in 2017
- On Tuesday night the 72-year-old said the network now was 'not the same' as when he worked there, citing lack of managerial direction
- O'Reilly said he was dismayed by the managing editors allowing anchors and pundits to attempt to justify the January 6 riots
- He also said the network was now 'playing to the choir' and avoiding thorny debate and tough discussions
Veteran former Fox News anchor Bill O'Reilly has accused cable news anchors of 'playing to the choir,' saying they shy away from debate and a variety of opinions.
O'Reilly, 72, joined the fledgling Fox News in 1996 and was the highest-rated anchor for 16 years, until he was forced out amid claims of sexual misconduct in 2017.
On Tuesday night, he told NewsNation's show Dan Abrams Live that his former network is 'a different place than when I was there.'
He said his Fox News show would still be a hit today, but it would be too challenging for Fox's executives.
'If I went back to any network and reimposed The O'Reilly Factor - where we brought on people to debate from all sides and we presented evidence as best we could backed up by facts - that show would go through the roof,' O'Reilly said.
'But it's easy to play to the choir and that's what they're all doing now. That's easy.
'It's hard to debate and especially when you bring bright people in.'
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Bill O'Reilly, who for 16 years was the highest-rated anchor on Fox News, on Tuesday night criticized his former employer
He said his Fox News show would still be a hit today, but it was too challenging for Fox's executives
O'Reilly, who is currently on tour with Donald Trump, said he gave the former president a blunt assessment of his electoral performance in November 2020.
'He asked me my opinion and I told him that was a loser,' O'Reilly said.
'And I told him he should run on his record if he wants to go for another term.
'That's exactly what I told him. He asked me, and that's exactly what I told him.'
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O'Reilly called the January 6 insurrection 'one of the most disgraceful displays in U.S. history' and condemned Fox's mealy-mouthed response to the riots.
'Fox News is a different place than it was when I was there,' he said.
'All right, I don't follow it that that closely anymore. But when I was there, there was a discipline from management that diminishing the Capitol riot could never have happened. And I'll state that firmly on the record.'
O'Reilly did not condemn his former colleagues Brian Kilmeade, Laura Ingraham and Sean Hannity for sending text messages to Mark Meadows, Trump's chief of staff, begging the then-president to call off the rioters - but he said he 'wouldn't have done it' himself.
'I would have asked the question, say, are you guys going to make a statement? What are you going to do? Looks like things are out of control.
'I don't think I would have advocated. That's not what journalists do,' he continued.
'But it was in a very intense, quick breaking situation. So I'm not going to condemn anybody here.'
'I know Hannity. I know Ingraham. I know Kilmeade,' he added.
'They want what's best for the country. That's what they want. You may not agree with the way they do it. You may not like that they like Trump or whatever it may be, but I didn't see anything subversive there.'
Earlier on Tuesday, White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki tore into the Fox News hosts for their texts.
O'Reilly is seen in 2003 with Roger Ailes, the chairman and CEO of Fox News, who hired him in 1996 to launch his new network
White House Press Secretary ripped those who texted Mark Meadows on January 6th during the Capitol riot but remained 'totally silent in public'
The messages – including one by an unidentified Republican politician telling Meadows 'the president needs to stop this ASAP' – were made public by the January 6 Committee vice chair Liz Cheney on Monday and Tuesday.
'Well, it's disappointing and unfortunately not surprising that some of the very same individuals who are willing to warn, condemn and express horror over what happened on January 6, in private were totally silent in public,' Psaki said on Tuesday, when asked about the newly revealed texts.
'Or even worse, [who] were spreading lies and conspiracy theories and continue to since that time, so disappointing – not surprising.
'Unfortunately, we've seen a trend from some of the same individuals,' she said.
Among the Fox personalities pleading with Meadows was host Laura Ingraham, who wrote: 'Mark, the president needs to tell people in the Capitol to go home, this is hurting all of us. He is destroying his legacy.'
But on her show that evening, Ingraham also discussed the possibility that it could have been antifa or agitators who stoked the riot, noting she had never seen anyone wearing 'the uniforms you saw in some of those crowd shots' at a Trump rally.
Sean Hannity and Brian Kilmeade also sent text messages to Meadows on January 6, according to Cheney.
Fox News hit back at Psaki's comments on Tuesday by sharing excerpts and tweets showing Ingraham, Hannity and Kilmeade condemned the riot on their shows on January 6 and 7.
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