Rivera Apologizes for Saying He'd Spit on Malkin

More than a week after Geraldo Rivera said he'd spit on Michelle Malkin if he ever saw her, the controversial Fox News anchor issued an apology on last night's "O'Reilly Factor."

"I just, you're so filled with emotion," Rivera said referring to the incident. "Someone calls you a liar and a fool, you want to strike back at them. It was an unguarded moment."

"I totally apologize, that's not me, I don't spit. I'm not a spitter," he said.

Transcript and video below the fold. Hat tip: Allahpundit.

Here's the transcript:

BILL O'REILLY: Now, Michelle Malkin and you got into a little bit of a—you called her a, you said something nasty, you wanna say something?

GERALDO RIVERA: I said that I would spit on her if I saw her, she called me a fool and a liar. I totally apologize for that, it was ungentlemanly, it was an ungallant thing to say. Not like me, I'm not a spitter. And I completely apologize to Michell Malkin.

O'REILLY: --Why did you say it?

RIVERA: I just, you're so filled with emotion. Someone calls you a liar and a fool, you want to strike back at them. It was an unguarded moment to a good reporter for the Boston Globe, Mark Shanahan, and he asked me and I was just bubbling with anger.

O'REILLY: Are you really, are you really--

RIVERA: --And I was just bubbling with anger--

O'REILLY: OK, you're emotional, you're a macho guy anyway, you shoot your mouth off like that, I do.

RIVERA: I totally apologize, that's not me, I don't spit. I'm not a spitter.

O'REILLY: OK. Are you really sorry, Geraldo?

RIVERA: I am really sorry. I just don't do that. I don't care who it is. I just (unintelligible)

O'REILLY: All right, because you did hurt her feelings and we don't want to do that here on the Fox--

RIVERA: --I'm sorry I hurt her feelings, she's a mother

O'REILLY: --And she's an honest--

RIVERA: --and a person that works hard, I disagree with everything she says--

O'REILLY: OK, but even if you do, Michelle Malkin is an honest woman and that's her opinion and she's entitled to it without any--

RIVERA: I completely apologize. I am sorry. It would never happen, I will never say anything like it again.

O'REILLY: All right.