Norm Macdonald offered an apology — this time for his apology — on “The View” on Thursday, a day after he tried to explain his earlier remarks about the #MeToo movement by making a pejorative reference to people with Down syndrome.

Mr. Macdonald went on ABC’s “The View” to address the backlash that emanated from an interview published earlier in the week by The Hollywood Reporter, in which he discussed the quick downfalls of the comedians Roseanne Barr and Louis C. K., both friends of his, by saying “victims didn’t have to go through” what the performers had suffered.

Critics accused him of minimizing the #MeToo movement. NBC’s “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” canceled an appearance by Mr. Macdonald on Tuesday.

On “The Howard Stern Show” the following morning, Mr. Macdonald said he understood the significance of #MeToo and tried to clarify what he had meant. In doing so, he said, “You’d have to have Down syndrome — my new word.”