“I’m here. I’m alive,” Bill O’Reilly told Sean Hannity Tuesday night during his guest appearance on Fox News’ “Hannity.”

O’Reilly and Hannity steered clear of any discussion of O’Reilly’s departure from Fox News in April amid a scandal about sexual harassment allegations leveled at the star anchor.

O’Reilly made his familiar gesture of pointing at the camera and declaring “The spin stops here,” his signature move for 2o years during his tenure as host of the top-rated “The O’Reilly Factor.”

O’Reilly told Hannity he “spent the summer on the ocean.”

The two discussed at length the snowballing protests among NFL players regarding police brutality and racial discrimination. O’Reilly asserted that the spread of the protests involving kneeling or sitting out the National Anthem has been spurred by the far-left. “These players are being used,” he said. “The far left wants to drive a narrative that the U.S. is an evil country.”

O’Reilly reiterated his assertion that “big money” has been pouring into left-wing organizations that targeted his sponsors and that most mainstream media outlets are looking to destroy President Donald Trump. He praised Hannity for withstanding a similar advertiser boycott effort.

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“I have to give you credit — you fought back when they came after you last spring,” O’Reilly said. “I didn’t, and I should have.”

Hannity pressed O’Reilly on whether he missed being in the thick of TV news, after a 42-year career that included stints at ABC News, CBS News and “Inside Edition” before he joined Fox News at its inception in 1996.

“I did 20 years and six months here,” O’Reilly said. “This was far and away the best job.” As for what’s next, O’Reilly gave no hints. “Who knows what I’m going to do — I don’t know,” he said.

 

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