O'Reilly won't back down: Fox News host refuses to apologize to the Kremlin for calling Putin a 'killer' during Trump interview
- The Putin Administration demanded an apology from Fox News host Bill O'Reilly
- O'Reilly asked Trump why he respected the Russian leader in an interview
- After Trump said he 'respected' him, O'Reilly called Russian president 'a killer'
- O'Reilly said he's working on the apology, but it might not come for six years
- Putin has the option to run for a second presidential term in 2018, and if he wins, he will be in office until 2024
Bill O'Reilly has refused to apologize to Russian President Vladimir Putin after calling him 'a killer' during an interview with Donald Trump.
The Fox News host said on Monday night that the Putin Administration in Moscow demanded an apology after O'Reilly questioned Trump over why he respected the Russian leader in an interview which was aired before Sunday's Super Bowl.
O'Reilly said he's working on the apology, but it might not come for another six years.
'Apparently the Putin administration in Moscow demanded that I, your humble correspondent, apologize for saying ol' Vlad is a killer,' O'Reilly said. 'So I'm working on that apology. Might want to check in around 2023.'
Bill O'Reilly said on Tuesday that he's 'working on an apology' for Russian President Vladimir Putin after calling him 'a killer', but suggested that the apology wouldn't come for many years
O'Reilly, right, branded Putin 'a killer' during an interview on Sunday with President Donald Trump, left, which has caused anger among officials in the Kremlin
Putin has the option to run for a second presidential term in 2018. If he wins, he will be in office until 2024.
Following O'Reilly's comments, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticized the TV host on Monday.
He said: 'We consider such words from the Fox TV company to be unacceptable and insulting, and honestly speaking, we would prefer to get an apology from such a respected TV company.'
During the interview, O'Reilly asked Trump about his future relationship with Putin.
Trump in response asked how 'innocent' the United States had been in its dealings abroad
Putin has been accused of ordering the death of political opponents but the Kremlin has strongly denied the allegations describing them as 'false' and 'politically motivated'
Trump replied: 'I do respect him, but I respect a lot of people. That doesn't mean I'm going to get along with him.'
The president continued that he would 'appreciate' assistance from Russia in dealing with ISIS.'
Putin's spokesman Dmitry Peskov, pictured, demanded an apology from O'Reilly and Fox News
O'Reilly responded that Putin 'is a killer'.
Trump defended Putin claiming: 'There are a lot of killers. We've got a lot of killers. What do you think? Our country's so innocent?'
US intelligence agencies have accused Moscow of having sponsored computer hacking to help Trump win office, and critics say he is too complimentary about the Russian leader.
Trump, when commenting on the allegations against Putin in the same interview, questioned how 'innocent' the United States itself was, saying it had made a lot of its own mistakes.
That irritated some Congressional Republicans who said there was no comparison between how Russian and US politicians behaved.
Putin, in his 17th year of dominating the Russian political landscape, is accused by some Kremlin critics of ordering the killing of opponents. Putin and the Kremlin have repeatedly rejected those allegations as politically motivated and false.
Trump, who has said he wants to try to mend battered US-Russia ties and hopes he can get along with Putin, was asked a question about some of those allegations by Fox Business before he won the White House.
In January last year, after a British judge ruled that Putin had 'probably' authorized the murder of former KGB agent Alexander Litvinenko in London, Trump said he saw 'no evidence' the Russian president was guilty.
He said: 'First of all, he says he didn't do it. Many people say it wasn't him. So who knows who did it?'
A judge in London ruled last year that Putin 'probably' authorized the killing of former KGB spy Alexander Litvineko, pictured, who died of radioactive poisoning on November 23, 2006
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