Bright and early Tuesday morning, Bill O'Reilly woke up, walked onto the set of Fox and Friends, and insulted Democratic congresswoman Maxine Waters for her choice of hairstyle. The question put to the Fox News superstar was: What does it mean that Waters is questioning the American patriotism of Trump and his supporters? The insightful, politically astute answer O'Reilly offered: "I didn't hear a word she said. I was looking at the James Brown wig." Laughs were had all around.

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African-American woman in Congress speaks up against the president, Bill O'Reilly says he won't listen because of her hair. pic.twitter.com/GVOkZNBNX9 — Media Matters (@mmfa) March 28, 2017

Waters went viral for tweeting "Get ready for impeachment" a week ago, but her career as a politician has spanned decades: She was working with Gloria Steinem when the women's movement first found its footing; she has fought for civil rights alongside Coretta Scott King. Lately, her outspoken resistance against the Trump administration has re-introduced her to a new generation of activists as one of the heroes of the moment. But yeah, O'Reilly chose to comment on her hair.

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On Fox, after a moment of misguided resistance from cohost Ainsley Earhardt—"I gotta defend her on that ... I think she's very attractive."—O'Reilly admitted he respects Waters because she isn't a "phony," even if he thinks her hair is distractingly unfeminine. In fact, she should come on his show antyime she wants!

Just yesterday, Waters told Elle, "Here I am now an adult, [with] this war on poverty, with the women's movement, [and with] my love of the Constitution—it just comes together to help me define who I am and what I care about." Her hair, or what O'Reilly thinks of her, has nothing to do with it.

Update: O'Reilly apologized for his comments in a statement Tuesday afternoon: "As I have said many times, I respect Congresswoman Maxine Waters for being sincere in her beliefs. Unfortunately, I also made a jest about her hair which was dumb. I apologize," he said, reports CNN. Then, he tweeted something about political correctness, vaguely implying we haven't heard the last of it.

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Big political correctness segment on The Factor tonight. Have you had enough? Check us out, you won’t be disappointed. –BO’R — Bill O'Reilly (@BillOReilly) March 28, 2017

Sarah Rense Sarah Rense is the Associate Lifestyle Editor at Esquire, where she covers tech, food, drink, home, and more.

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