Bill O'Reilly described trying to reassure Trump after he was booed by supporters for saying he got a COVID vaccine booster

• Bill O'Reilly described speaking to Donald Trump after he was booed by his own fans.
• O'Reilly said Trump should foreground taking credit for vaccines in a 2024 campaign.

Former Fox News host Bill O'Reilly described trying to reassure former President Donald Trump after he was booed by his own supporters for revealing that he'd gotten a COVID vaccine booster shot.

On Sunday, Trump told the crowd for the last in a series of events with O'Reilly that he had taken a third shot, prompting boos and jeers from some in the audience.

—NewsNation Now (@NewsNationNow) December 21, 2021

In an interview on NewsNation Monday, O'Reilly justified Trump not having discussed his booster before O'Reilly asked him, saying that he feared alienating anti-vaxx supporters.

He said that Trump called him that day, prompted O'Reilly to reassure him about his pro-vaccine position.

"I told him that today, he called me," said O'Reilly to host Dan Abrams.

"I said 'This is good for you, this is good that people see another side of you, not a political side, you told the truth, you believe in the vax, your administration did it, and you should take credit for it, because it did save, I don't know, hundreds of thousands of lives.'"

The former Fox News host, a longtime Trump confidant, said the former president would definitely be running for office again, and that he was pushing for Trump to focus on vaccine development in his pitch to voters.

"I'm trying to tell President Trump, run on your record. He's going to run again, all right," said O'Reilly.

Trump has long been hinting that he'll make another bid for office.

But he has found himself reviled by some of his own supporters for advocating for the vaccines developed during his administration.

Fanned by right-wing influencers, including top-rated Fox News hosts, hostility to COVID vaccine mandates and booster shots is sweeping the GOP grassroots.

O'Reilly, formerly Fox News' top rated host, was ousted from the network in 2017 over sexual harassment claims.

In an interview with NewsNation last week, he lamented the direction his old network was taking. He said Fox was "playing to the choir," promoting fake narratives about the January 6 riot, and dodging tough discussions.