Bill O'Reilly weighed in on Friday's controversial on-air tussle between Bill Maher and Ben Affleck over radical Islam, claiming that the Islamic State would behead the "Gone Girl" actor "in a heartbeat," Salon reported.
"Maher is correct on the overall effect Islam is having on the world right now," O'Reilly said Monday on his show "The O'Reilly Factor," siding with Maher. "The truth is militant Islam continues to drive worldwide terrorism and have plenty of sanctuaries from which to commit their evil."
"Ben Affleck should well understand that he himself would be beheaded in a heartbeat by these ISIS animals," the Fox News host added, issuing an odd warning to Affleck.
On Friday's HBO talk show "Real Time with Bill Maher," Affleck deemed another guest, author Sam Harris, and host Maher's views on Islam as "gross and racist" after Maher criticized liberals for not "stand[ing] up for liberal principles."
Maher "specifically pointed at the Muslim world as an example of an area where the freedom of religion and speech and equality for women, minorities and homosexuals is being curtailed," according to Politco.
"Islam is the only religion that acts like the mafia, that will fucking kill you if you say the wrong thing, draw the wrong picture or write the wrong book," Maher said.
"I would argue the liberals have failed us. The crucial point of confusion is that we have been sold this meme of Islamophobia where every criticism of the doctrine of Islam gets conflated with bigotry towards Muslims as people. That is intellectually ridiculous," Harris said during Friday's televised debate.
"Hold on - are you the person who officially understands the codified doctrine of Islam? It's gross and racist. It's like saying, 'Oh, you shifty Jew!' Your argument is, 'You know, black people, they shoot each other,'" Affleck asked in defense to Harris' comment.
"How about more than a billion people who aren't fanatical, who don't punch women, who just want to go to school, have some sandwiches, pray five times a day, and don't do any of the things you're saying of all Muslims. It's stereotyping," the "Argo" director continued.
"That's just not true, Ben," Maher countered. "You're saying that the idea that someone should be killed if they leave the Islamic religion is just a few bad apples?"
"The people who actually believe that you should murder someone if you dishonor the Islamic faith is not with the majority of Muslims at all," Affleck insisted.
"What is your solution?" Affleck asked of Maher and Harris. "Just condemn Islam? We've killed more Muslims than they've killed us by an awful lot."
The views of the debate also managed to spark immediate conversation on social media. In an interview with Maher published by Salon on Monday, the host defended himself as" the liberal in this debate."
Maher, an outspoken critic of Islam who also opposed organized religion, was recently publically criticized for his view that female genital mutilation is an Islamic problem, Independent reported.
