Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly says he offered to stand beside White House press secretary Sarah Sanders to help control reporters who fall “out of line.”
O’Reilly said on his digital show Monday he made the gesture of support to Sanders during a party on Sunday to honor the recently confirmed U.S. Ambassador to Germany Richard Grenell, according to the Hollywood Reporter.
“I said, ‘Ms. Sanders, with all due respect, if you ever need me to stand next to you in those press briefings, I will volunteer to do that. And, if somebody gets out of line, I will tell them exactly what I think of their behavior,'” O’Reilly recounted.
“She’s representing her country in very difficult circumstances, extremely difficult, and she’s a patriot — you know, she’s taken enormous amount of abuse, enormous,” he added.
But O’Reilly said Sanders laughed off the proposal, despite it being an “honest offer.”
Sanders was harshly criticized for her role in the Trump administration during the White House Correspondents’ dinner last month.
“Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited. I’m not really sure what we’re going to get, you know? A press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams,” comedian Michelle Wolf joked at the glitzy gathering.
“I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful,” Wolf continued. “But she burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies.”
Sanders later told Fox News the jokes spoke more to Wolf’s character than hers.
