Bill O'Reilly Fired By Fox News
Bill O'Reilly was accused of sexually harassing women for many years while at Fox News. In order to retain his credibility and sweep his predatory behavior under the rug, O'Reilly paid the victims approximately $13 million in out-of-court settlements, to silence his accusers. If not for the initial reporting by the New York Times, the world might never have known just how toxic the Fox News environment was for women. Some women were unable to come forward and report O'Reilly out of fear of losing their job. While others who either witnessed or heard about the illegal sexual advances of Roger Ailes, decided that reporting O'Reilly to his boss (guilty of the same mistreatment) would be in vain. O'Reilly has attempted to use America's rape culture and the perpetuation of a system that prevents women from reporting, to his advantage. But the single most important fact remains - O'Reilly paid THIRTEEN MILLION dollars to settle with and silence his accusers.
In April, during Sexual Assault Awareness Month (SAAM), Trump voiced public support for O'Reilly. Trump declared O'Reilly to be a 'good person.' This before Trump outright claimed O'Reilly's female victims were lying, when he stated, "I don’t think Bill did anything wrong." There is no other way to interpret this statement. If you 'don't think Bill did anything wrong,' you can't also support his victims or believe them. This response from Trump was tone deaf.
It is clear that Trump quickly came to O'Reilly's defense because the two are sexual deviant kindred spirits.
Sadly, the far right political movement sustains misogyny and rape culture. So long as the economic incentives of securing tax breaks and eliminating social assistance programs reign as lead objectives, this behavior will forever permeate the far right movement. Leaders of the far Right Wing political movement have ignored misbehavior within the Republican Party out of fear of alienating big donors who prefer to turn a blind eye.
The far Right Wing conservative movement has a powerful voice, spirit, and recognizable face. Rush Limbaugh remains the voice. Low information voters who are most influenced by radio and inexplicable yelling find Limbaugh's message appealing. Together with Limbaugh's influential voice is the spirit of Alex Jones. Jones' lunacy coalesced the bottom dwelling fringe of the far right movement to support Republican efforts. Finishing off this trifecta of conservative mania is the face of the movement, Bill O'Reilly. O'Reilly hosted the evening show "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News for the past two decades. These three form a dangerous three-headed Leviathan of hate to be used by corrupt state actors. Each of these three broadcasting demagogues share a role in the election of an admitted sexual predator.
Ousting a talking head as beloved as "no spin zone" O'Reilly did not happen over night. There was lots of trepidation. He had the largest television audience and he earned more money for the company than any other Fox News television personality. Ultimately, O'Reilly's success was irrelevant when set against the mounting list of sponsors withdrawing their advertisements from his evening hate program.
