[Lemon:] Back now with my panel. Hi, panel. Welcome back. Someone on twitter said, Don, get control of your panel. That is easier said than done, especially when you are dealing with this group. Just so you know. The only thing I can do is sometimes say, we have got to go or cut the mike. And then people go you won't let them talk. Well, that's the only control I have because they yell over me. OK. So I'm going to continue talk about April. I don't mind it. Come on, you know. I'm thick skin. So April Ryan, we are going to continue, but I want to expand this and talk about Bill O'Reilly on FOX coming under fire for this comment on "FOX and Friend" where he mocked Representative Maxine Waters' hair while she was delivering a speech on the floor of House of Representatives. Here it is.
[Rep. Maxine Waters , California:] We are saying to those who say they are patriotic but they turned a blind eye to the destruction that he is about to cause this country you're not nearly as patriotic as you are.
[Unidentified Male:] So what does that mean? Though, we have been listening all morning.
[Bill O'reilly, Fox News:] I didn't hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig. If we have a picture of James it's the same.
[Unidentified Female:] No. OK. I have to defend her on that.
[O'reilly:] You're all wrong about this.
[Unidentified Female:] I have to defend her on that. She is you can't go after a woman's looks. I think she's very attractive.
[O'reilly:] I didn't say she wasn't attractive. I love James Brown.
[Lemon:] So he did apologize.
[Rye:] So?
[Lemon:] An extremely intelligent accomplished, respected woman, why reduce her to that, Paris, and talk about her hair? Because Symone brought up the, you know, the disrespecting for woman of color. Here is another woman of color. Why do that?
[Dennard:] I think, Don, we should first start we always go to the race card. And I don't think that's relevant. I don't think this is a racial thing at all. There are plenty of racists in this world.
[Sanders:] Paris.
[Dennard:] And we should be sure that when we call somebody a racist or we say that that they are, that they actually are. So I just think that we need to stop that. Now, let me finish.
[Lemon:] Paris, let me say this. I got to say this. I'm going to let you finish. But even all the white guys in the studio are side eyeing you right now. They are all like -.
[Rye:] He needs to be side eyed.
[Lemon:] But go ahead, Paris. Let him finish. Let him finish.
[Dennard:] No, let me finish. I think what it is, is he did. Bill O'Reilly said what he said was in jest and he said it was damn. He apologized for it. And if you play the rest of the clip, he did go on to say that he likes Congressman Waters.
[Lemon:] Said she was old school and she believes what she says.
[Dennard:] And it is old school because the title of his book is "old school." So the whole segment was about that. But he is also said she's a woman who isn't a phony. She believes what she says. And she is someone who is genuine.
[Lemon:] Yes. He did say that. He's right.
[Dennard:] He said it was damn and he apologized for it.
[Lemon:] Go ahead, Angela.
[Rye:] OK. So let me help you. In case you got this, this was Bill O'Reilly's first racist moment, he has a record of saying racist comments. Let me bring you back to July. Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. That is in response to Michelle Obama saying that her kids are playing on the White House lawn which was built by at the hands of slaves. This man has a pattern in practice of calling black men thugs, of making fun of Congresswoman Waters' hair? He's intimidated by her. Don't do it, Paris. Don't do it today. Don't do it today. The Bottom line is -.
[Dennard:] Does President Obama call us thugs.
[Rye:] Bill O'Reilly is a racist.
[Ferguson:] President Obama did call people thugs.
[Lemon:] All right. We are talking about Bill O'Reilly. Go on.
[Rye:] You guys, stay going down a rabbit hole that is irrelevant. Your boy is a racist. He needs to be fired. His apology isn't sufficient. Race baiting is when you continue to utilize why can't you ever just hush? Race baiting.
[Lemon:] Let them get in. OK. But here's the thing. I have not listen to my knowledge and I could be wrong. I have never heard Bill O'Reilly talk about anybody else there. Because I'm sure there are a lot of people there. And maybe the lady, I don't know if she does, she may have some hair extensions on "FOX and Friends." There are sure a lot of women who are on that very network that have some wigs or some -. That's what ladies do.
[Rye:] I don't have a wig.
[Sanders:] Not all of us.
[Lemon:] I'm just saying.
[Ferguson:] Don
[Lemon:] There's absolutely nothing wrong with it. Why bring that up? I've never seen him bring that up about a white woman. That's all I'm saying.
[Ferguson:] Here is what I will say. If you're going to say that Maxine Waters these comments that Bill O'Reilly made and they were damn comments. And I'm glad he apologized for it. They were stupid. Obviously, they were off the cuff. And obviously, he realizing that a mistake. But if you're going to throw out the race card every single time and say he should be fired and everything else, then should Maxine Waters resign for demanding that we impeached Donald Trump before he would ever done anything when he was elected president? Isn't she a racist for saying at the white guy that was elected president who had done nothing wrong but get elected should be impeached? If you want to be taken seriously, as Maxine Waters saying still credible, she is not very credible when you are calling for the impeachment because you didn't get your way of the president of the United States of America when you are -.
[Lemon:] Listen, that if fine. That's another conversation, though, about her creditability.
[Ferguson:] No, but it is part of this conversation, Don.
[Sanders:] Why are we questioning Main Waters' credibility who is a former -.
[Ferguson:] She called for the President to be impeached when he had done nothing.
[Sanders:] That's a whole another question. Donald Trump has some questionable things. Why did you automatically go to question the creditability of a black woman?
[Ferguson:] It is a double standard. That's my point. If you're going to hold Bill O'Reilly let me explain this. If you're going to hold Bill O'Reilly here, you have at least to hold Maxine Waters at the same level.
[Dennard:] Ben, stop talking. You don't want to be labeled a racist.
[Ferguson:] That's a double standard. I'm used to that here.
[Sanders:] I didn't say anything about Bill O'Reilly being a racist today.
[Rye:] He is.
[Sanders:] Actually my point that I was going to make is and he has definitely done some very racist things, but what I was going to say was is that he automatically went to what Maxine Waters, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, a woman, what she looked like. And how many women in their jobs in their personal lives and professional lives can identify with being talked about for what they look like and not the creditability of things they're saying? And my point to you is that it is not only just dumb. It is sexist. It is incorrect.
[Ferguson:] I said it was dumb.
[Sanders:] It is unacceptable, and it should not be tolerated.
[Ferguson:] But you can't if you this is a double standard I'm talking about.
[Sanders:] No, you can't tell me what I can do. That's the crazy thing.
[Ferguson:] If you are going to hold people to describe moral ground, then, how do you not hold Maxine Waters to the same standard?
[Rye:] Because she was the victim. She was the victim. She was the victim today and moreover there was another FOX analyst that said she needed to put the crack pipe down.
[Lemon:] All right. Listen. Ben, the president has called for people to be locked up. He has called for people to step down. He has called for people to be fired. OK. So, that's a different thing. Maxine Waters called for the President to be impeached. That's politics.
[Ferguson:] You don't just brush that off.
[Lemon:] If she said Donald Trump's wig looked like howdy dudey, that would be a different thing because she is talking about Ben, will you let me finish? Let me finish. Let me finish. Bill O'Reilly, I don't know if he is racist or not. I have no idea. I don't know what the comments. I will let you guys decide to that. But he was talking about her personal appearance. Even he has said it was dumb. And to say that you cannot say that it didn't come off as sexist because he didn't I don't know if he's ever said that about a man. I don't know if anybody would say that about a man.
[Ferguson:] Don, let's be honest. Have you ever done a segment about all of the people that have made fun of Donald Trump's hair? Did any of them -?
[Lemon:] Donald Trump had made fun of his own hair. Donald Trump has made fun of his own hair.
[Ferguson:] My point is it is a double standard.
[Lemon:] Ben, it's not a double standard.
[Ferguson:] Sure, it is.
[Lemon:] He goes on television and makes fun of his own hair. He lets Jimmy Fallon rustle through his hair. He talks about how real his hair is. His doctors showed that he has propecia for his hair.
[Ferguson:] Again, double standard.
[Lemon:] So I mean, he talks about his own hair. Why is that a double standard? He is making fun. If Maxine Waters had said I talked about her own wig and that would be different story, but she doesn't. I do that. He brought something into the conversation that shouldn't be brought there. We will take a break. We will be right back.
[Dennard:] We don't even know if it's a wig.