President Donald Trump defended Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly on Wednesday amid allegations of sexual harassment and inappropriate behavior by the TV host, which O’Reilly has denied.
“I think he’s a person I know well — he is a good person,” Trump said during an interview with The New York Times.
O’Reilly has hosted Trump on his show frequently over the years. The New York Times reported Saturday that the host or Fox paid about $13 million to five women since 2002 to settle cases where they alleged inappropriate behavior by O’Reilly.
“I think he shouldn’t have settled; personally I think he shouldn’t have settled,” Trump added Wednesday. “Because you should have taken it all the way. I don’t think Bill did anything wrong.”
Following the Times report, 25 brands have pulled their ads from Fox News TV show “The O’Reilly Factor” as of Wednesday, including BMW, Hyundai, Allstate and GlaxoSmithKline.