Russian Presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov says the Kremlin isn’t going to make a meal out of comments made by Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly regarding Vladimir Putin, and will await his apology in 2023. “We are very kind and very patient. We will make a note in the calendar… and return to him with this question,” Peskov told reporters today, according to the Tass news agency.
The lob back to O’Reilly came after the Fox News host said last night that the Kremlin “might want to check in with me around 2023” as it sought an apology for comments he made about Putin during an interview with President Donald Trump in the run-up to the Super Bowl on Sunday. At the time, O’Reilly said of the Russian president, “He’s a killer, though. Putin’s a killer.”
On Monday, a rep for the Russian Federation demanded a formal apology from Fox News calling O’Reilly’s words “unacceptable, offensive.” O’Reilly said on air that he was “working on” the apology which “may take a little time.”
Today, Peskov retorted, “We have a different understanding of good manners and etiquette with this gentleman. We are very kind and very patient. We will make a note in the calendar for 2023 and return to him with this question.”
Despite saying the Kremlin does “not feel like exaggerating” the situation and “has no intention of blowing it out of proportion,” Peskov said it was “awkward for Fox News rather than for us.” Of O’Reilly’s initial remark that kicked off the back-and-forth, Peskov said, “First, a media correspondent utters it. Then the media’s editors prefer to keep quiet about it. Of course, this does little credit to this media outlet.”
According to Tass, when asked whether Russian authorities would change their tune about Fox News, Peskov emphasized that the Kremlin is guided “strictly by provisions of the media law, which is in effect in our country. We have the same attitude towards both domestic — federal and regional — and international media.”
