On the November 14 edition of his nationally syndicated radio show, host Bill O'Reilly offered a series of contradictory statements while arguing that America “is a fair country” that is “generally” not “discriminatory.”

For instance, O'Reilly stated, “I don't consider myself prejudiced in any way, shape, or form,” then immediately acknowledged that “of course” he “form[ed] assumptions based on appearance and based on speaking to people,” which he claimed is not behaving in a “prejudic[ial]” manner but, rather, “deducing.”

Additionally, O'Reilly baselessly dismissed the assertion by Max Sawicky, economist at the Economic Policy Institute, that “ampl[e] document[ation]” shows “that there's pervasive discrimination” in the United States, stating: “I don't believe it. I think your documentation is anecdotal. ... It doesn't matter whether they're studies or not. It's anecdotal.” Sawicky asserted that the research to which he pointed was based on extrapolation from a “statistical sample.” Yet later in the broadcast, while still dismissing social science research showing “pervasive discrimination” in the United States as being “anecdotal,” O'Reilly asserted that “bigotry” did exist in the United States. As proof, O'Reilly pointed to an “anecdot[e]” about how when he first “was in [news] corporations,” the executives allegedly decided they were “not gonna let O'Reilly anchor” because O'Reilly “was from Levittown [New York], a working-class Irish -- they call them shanty Irish -- background.” According to O'Reilly, “they” decided to give “anchor” positions to “Stone or Forrest,” which was “bigotry against” O'Reilly because he was “better than those people.” Presumably, O'Reilly was referring to Dateline NBC anchor Stone Phillips and former ABC News correspondent and anchor Forrest Sawyer.

From the November 14 edition of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

SAWICKY: We're as good as we could be?

O'REILLY: If you -- no, not as good as we could be.

SAWICKY: Well, that's all I'm saying.

O'REILLY: But in a possible -- in a possible scenario, we're a noble nation that provides more opportunity for more people than any other nation on Earth. And for people to say as, you know, the far left does -- 44 percent of them -- that this is not a fair country is insane and dishonest, in my opinion.

SAWICKY: Well, like I said, when you put it in a yes-or-no context, it ignores the fact that I think most people who said, “not fair,” would agree that we are better than we used to be, and there's some ways to go. If I was asked that question, I would say, “not fair,” just to popularize the idea that we ought to try to improve.

O'REILLY: But you wouldn't be being honest, because it is a fair country. And the question is pretty -- the question is pretty well defined. This is a pretty good question by Rasmussen. Is society generally unfair and discriminatory? And 44 percent of Democrats -- which is the far left -- say, “Yes, it's unfair and discriminatory,” generally speaking. And I say to you that is a misguided point of view to the extreme.

SAWICKY: It's amply documented that there's pervasive discrimination that's going on around us.

O'REILLY: I don't believe it. I think your documentation is anecdotal and depends --

SAWICKY: No, these are studies done with --

O'REILLY: It doesn't matter whether they're studies or not. It's anecdotal. Somebody shows up.

SAWICKY: No, no. When you do a statistical sample, you generalize from that using the most advanced statistical methods and you draw conclusions, and this has been done again and again and again in social science research.

[...]

O'REILLY: So, all of that is anecdotal, and it doesn't mean a thing to me. Now, is there bigotry? Of course there is. Absolutely. There's bigotry all over the place, and I experienced it in my career because I was from Levittown, a working-class Irish -- they call them shanty Irish -- background, and I was in corporations that said, “We're not gonna let O'Reilly anchor, we're gonna give it to Stone or Forrest,” and they did that. Was that bigotry against me? You bet it was. Was I better than those people? You bet I am, and I've proven it when I got the opportunity. But I don't think it's an unfair country because some corporations wanted Stone and Forrest instead of Bill. I knew the game they were playing. Was it fair? It was not fair.

And what did I do? I said, “Look, I'll get these SOBs. I'll work 10 times harder and I'll get where I wanna go,” and I did. So, I'm not buying all this excuse business. Just not buying it.

[...]

CALLER: You see, I'm under the opinion that everybody's a bigot -- everybody. I mean prejudice -- I wouldn't go as far as saying bigot -- but everybody's prejudiced, everybody. I don't think anybody escapes it.

O'REILLY: You know, I don't agree with that. You know, a bigot is someone who says, “I don't like this person, Steve, because of his religion or his color or political beliefs.” I don't believe everybody's like that. You do?

CALLER: Like I said, make -- I mean, more of you make certain assumptions. All of us have certain assumptions --

O'REILLY: But that's not bigotry. I mean, but assuming -- it's not prejudice unless it's a negative connotation. Look, I don't believe that I'm -- in any, way, shape, or form -- prejudiced against anybody, all right? I got a staff that's a rainbow across the board. I don't care who you are as long as you're honest and will work hard. Doesn't matter to me what religion you are or where you come from or anything like that. And, you know, if you know me and you know my staff, you can see it. The proof is right in front of your eyes.

So, I don't consider myself prejudiced in any way, shape, or form. Do I form assumptions based on appearance and based on speaking to people? Of course I do. I mean, that's deduction. You're deducing. But I try to give everybody a chance to prove me wrong or, you know, to at least -- we investigate to the extent that we're comfortable in our evaluation of the person. But I don't believe everybody's prejudiced. I don't.