During the February 21 edition of his nationally syndicated radio program, discussing the controversy surrounding his prior remarks about Michelle Obama, Bill O'Reilly stated: “The word 'lynching' was used because I said it quite clearly. I'm not going to go on some lynching party against Michelle Obama; that's ridiculous.” However, during his February 19 program, O'Reilly said, “I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down” (emphasis added).

Earlier during the February 21 show, a caller asked O'Reilly: “Do you think you owe Michelle Obama an apology for that disrespectful lynching analogy?” O'Reilly replied: “Of course not. I stuck up for the man -- the woman, I'm sorry.” He later called the caller a “far-left loon.”

From the February 19 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: You know, I have a lot of sympathy for Michelle Obama, for Bill Clinton, for all of these people. Bill Clinton, I have sympathy for him, because they're thrown into a hopper where everybody is waiting for them to make a mistake, so that they can just go and bludgeon them. And, you know, Bill Clinton and I don't agree on a lot of things, and I think I've made that clear over the years, but he's trying to stick up for his wife, and every time the guy turns around, there's another demagogue or another ideologue in his face trying to humiliate him because they're rooting for Obama.

That's wrong. And I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence, hard facts, that say this is how the woman really feels. If that's how she really feels -- that America is a bad country or a flawed nation, whatever -- then that's legit. We'll track it down.

From the February 21 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: Let's go to Boca Raton, Florida, where Bill's in the No-Spin Zone. What's going on, Bill?

CALLER: Hey, Bill. Big fan. I have a question for you. Do you think you owe Michelle Obama an apology for that disrespectful lynching analogy?

O'REILLY: Of course not. I stuck up for the man -- the woman, I'm sorry. Just to point out that Bill in Boca Raton on the sheet says, "New York Times worried McCain will beat Obama." That's what Bill in Boca Raton wanted to talk about, according to what he told our screener. So then Bill from Boca Raton gets on the air and tries to say, do I owe Michelle Obama, who I stuck up for, obviously, everyone knows that, an apology. So Bill in Boca Raton Florida is a liar. He is a far-left loon. And this is what that crew does.

Hey, Bill, and this is -- I'm looking out for you, man, you need to rethink your life. You are a dishonest person, you're a loon, and you really need to rethink your life, sir.

[...]

O'REILLY: OK, tonight on the TV side, we're going to have [former White House press secretary] Tony Snow, Bernie [Goldberg, Fox News contributor], and Jane [Hall, Fox News contributor], two Democrats, all analyzing the John McCain thing. And we're going to have Laurie Dhue come in. We've got a couple of letters about people who heard reports that I denigrated Michelle Obama, which of course I did not. That's not true, I defended her and have defended her constantly. I actually wouldn't let a, as the L.A. Times reported today, wouldn't let a caller say anything bad about Mrs. Obama, because we can't do anecdotal character assassinations, that's not fair. And I applaud the L.A. Times for pointing that out.

The word “lynching” was used because I said it quite clearly. I'm not going to go on some lynching party against Michelle Obama; that's ridiculous. You remember that Judge Clarence Thomas used the “high-tech lynching” when he was promoting his book, and I think that that was a very interesting way for Clarence Thomas to put it. Said, “I'm not going to participate in anything like that.”

Now, those of you who heard the comments know that I was defending Michelle Obama. The comments are available, you can hear them. We'll put them on billoreilly.com, they're on every website. But, you know, this just goes to show you that the hatred in America is so intense that whatever you say will be twisted and turned.

So we're going to get into that tonight on the TV side and I -- if you hadn't heard the conversation, I urge you to go to billoreilly.com to listen to it, and I want to again thank the L.A. Times for accurately reporting it. That was great.

And, hey, I'm here. I firmly believe that Michelle Obama loves her country. I think she should clarify what she said, and I'm here to listen to her. I'd love her to call in and say, “Hey, this is exactly what I meant.”

Benefit of the doubt. It's funny, I gave Michelle Obama the benefit of the doubt, but these people who are condemning me didn't give it to me, isn't that interesting. And not that I need it. I don't. Big boy. Said what I said. Defended Michelle Obama. Happy I did. I think I did the right thing.