The Fox News host Bill O’Reilly issued an apology on Tuesday to Maxine Waters, the California congresswoman, after an avalanche of criticism about comments he had made that morning about her hair on “Fox and Friends.”

But his expression of regret on his own program, “The O’Reilly Factor,” was immediately followed by a lengthy broadside against Ms. Waters, during which he said that she would not come on his show because “she does not want to be challenged.”

“Although many Americans disagree with her extremism at times, she deserves a hearing and she should not be marginalized by political opponents,” Mr. O’Reilly said. “In fact, I made that mistake this morning on ‘Fox and Friends.’ I said in a simple jest that the congressman’s hair distracted me. Well, that was stupid. I apologize.”

The original comment came during a segment on the network’s morning show, in which Mr. O’Reilly was shown observing a speech by Ms. Waters, a frequent critic of President Trump.