Bill O’Reilly was forced to make a fauxpology after offensive remarks he made about California Rep. Maxine Waters (D) on Fox & Friends. He came under fire for ridiculing her appearance after watching a clip of her in action giving a speech on the House of Representatives floor (aka doing her damn job—and doing it well).
The backlash was swift on Twitter on swift and even caused him to become a trending topic on the platform all day.
This afternoon, CNN reports he issued a statement that is allegedly an apology.
In a statement Tuesday afternoon, O'Reilly expressed regret for the remarks.
"As I have said many times, I respect Congresswoman Maxine Waters for being sincere in her beliefs," he said. "I said that again today on Fox & Friends calling her 'old school.' Unfortunately, I also made a jest about her hair which was dumb. I apologize."
Shocker—a classic fauxpology after being called out on an offensive joke. I wouldn’t expect anything more from him. He’s apparently going to take even more time to fauxpologize tonight (I know I won’t be watching).
...and looks like he’ll address it by doubling down on being a douche.
Luckily, Rep. Waters is AMAZING (I may or may not want to be like her when I grow up) and can’t be bothered by the likes of him. She hasn’t made any public statement in response.