Bill O’Reilly sparked outrage online Tuesday for what he described as the “hidden reason” behind calls to abolish the Electoral College.

“This is all about race,” the conservative commentator said on his Fox News show. “The left sees white privilege in America as an oppressive force that must be done away with. Therefore white working class voters must be marginalized.”

He later added that liberals believe “white men have set up a system of oppression and that system must be destroyed ... The left wants power taken away from the white establishment and they want a profound change in the way America is run.”

O’Reilly’s admission of “white privilege” and the “white establishment” struck a chord with Twitter users, and discussion on the topic became a trending topic overnight.

That time Bill O'Reilly got his internal and external monologues confused https://t.co/CBy8wl4II1 — Dan Pfeiffer (@danpfeiffer) December 21, 2016

This is horrifyingly honest, and @DavidCornDC is right to call it reminiscent of something you might've heard in Apartheid-era South Africa. https://t.co/bx5CFe8n8U — Joy Reid (@JoyAnnReid) December 21, 2016

Dear @oreillyfactor,



This is exactly what we want: equity. Thank you for finally admitting it's not what you want.



We've known all along. pic.twitter.com/15vd7NfWm1 — Brittany Packnett (@MsPackyetti) December 21, 2016

So @DavidCornDC says what we all must: Bill O'Reilly has passed into Afrikaner territory. We are becoming South Africa. — Joan Walsh (@joanwalsh) December 21, 2016

On Bill O'Reilly: pretty sure white establishment was supposed to be put in quotes #FOXNewsWorld #ElectoralCollege #oreillyfactor — Aubrey (@AubreyAnn5SOS) December 21, 2016

Bill O’Reilly, in defending “white establishment,” nails a liberal vision of America: https://t.co/FLVRgTIgd7 pic.twitter.com/ppRG6Q9zIt — Slate (@Slate) December 21, 2016

this is... unusually direct https://t.co/NVmExnVMQa — Liam Stack (@liamstack) December 21, 2016

Ahem. He's been saying this for at least a decade. They may have made these graphics in 1996. https://t.co/DQUnG09AUm — Keith Olbermann (@KeithOlbermann) December 21, 2016

Weird thing about O'Reilly remark tweeted by Fox: It's actually worse *in context* than it is in isolation, where some on left would agree. — Niall Stanage (@NiallStanage) December 21, 2016

During the 2012 presidential race, O’Reilly made headlines for making similar comments.

“Twenty years ago, President Obama would have been roundly defeated by an establishment candidate like Mitt Romney,” he said. “The white establishment is now the minority.”