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Fox News host Bill O’Reilly took to his show on Monday to weigh in on an incident involving a passenger that has rocked United Airlines.
After playing the clip of a male passenger being forcibly removed by aviation police officers Sunday from United flight 3411, O’Reilly chuckled as he said to Fox News correspondent Rob Schmitt, “I shouldn’t be laughing, but it’s just so bizarre.
“They had to get some United Airlines personnel from Chicago to Louisville … they had to get them there and so they asked for volunteers, and obviously, this guy didn’t volunteer,” continued O’Reilly as he laughed.
Toward the end of the segment, O’Reilly seemed to take a more serious tone. “Can’t have this kind of stuff, it looks like a police state,” he said.
The controversial personality has recently seen his ratings soar, even after news that he paid $ 13 million to settle sexual harassment claims over the course of several years was reported by The New York Times. Although around 60 companies have been reported to have pulled their commercials from O’Reilly’s time slot, O’Reilly managed to attract more viewers to his show: according to data from Nielsen Media Research cited by Variety last week. The show drew more than 3.76 million viewers on the April 4 show — a 20% increase from the previous week.
The diminution of financial supporters for O’Reilly’s show also seems to be having an impact on the format of the program itself. Fewer commercials have aired during “O’Reilly Factor,” according to TVNewser. About 13 minutes and 35 seconds worth of commercials had aired on the April 5 program — about five minutes less than the prior Monday’s show.
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