Bill O'Reilly at the reception for Hollywood Reporter's 2016 35 Most Powerful People in Media at Four Seasons Restaurant in New York City. April 6, 2016.
Photo by Ilya S. Savenok for Getty Images
Last week, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly was revealed to have paid $13 million in settlements to five women who accused him of sexual harassment or verbal abuse (The anchor of "The O'Reilly Factor" has denied the allegations). Today, O'Reilly recieved a perhaps unsurprising defender: President Donald Trump.
"I think he's a person I know well — he is a good person," Trump said during an interview with The New York Times. "I think he shouldn't have settled; personally I think he shouldn't have settled. Because you should have taken it all the way. I don't think Bill did anything wrong."
Trump's statements echo his defence of Roger Ailes, the former Fox News chief who was ousted from the network following a string of sexual assault allegations from female staffers and associates. He called the charges "totally unfounded."
In October 2016, a recording of Trump on the set of "Access Hollywood" in 2005 leaked. Trump boasted on the tape of groping and kissing women without their consent. Less than a week ago, Trump declared April 2017 to be "Sexual Assault Awareness Month."