The Rev. Al Sharpton said Bill O’Reilly “certainly promoted” white nationalism during his 20-year run on Fox News Channel.
“He became the spokesman for the right wing and this whole, kind of, going back to the pre-civil rights days,” Sharpton told MSNBC’s Chris Hayes on Wednesday night.
Fox News cut ties with O’Reilly Wednesday after a New York Times report detailed a series of sexual harassment allegations against the now-former “O’Reilly Factor” host that resulted in dozens of advertisers distancing themselves from the show.
O’Reilly and Sharpton have had several high-profile disagreements in the past. Hayes played a series clips in which the former Fox News star said racially sensitive things.
“For this kind of language to be going on, day after day, and to become commercially successful was very, very troubling if not frightening to many of us in the African-American community,” Sharpton said in response to the video montage.
Hayes went on to mention that O’Reilly and President Trump are friends who “share a similar world view” because they both came to power in New York.
“We get called the hustlers. We get called the names. We get called all kinds of non-complimentary terms for fighting against people who say they are trying to preserve something based on their race and based on their privilege,” Sharpton said.
Check out the video above.