Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly says he offered to stand by White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders during press briefings to help deal with “out of line” reporters. 

O’Reilly revealed on his online show on Monday that he made the remarks to Sanders at a party for new German Ambassador Richard Grinnell on Sunday. 

{mosads}”I said, ‘Ms. Sanders, with all due respect, if you ever need me to stand next to you in those press briefings, I will volunteer to do that. And if somebody gets out of line I will tell them exactly what I think of their behavior,’ ” O’Reilly said, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The former cable news host said he made an “honest offer,” and that Sanders laughed in response to the proposal. 

“She’s representing her country in very difficult circumstances, extremely difficult, and she’s a patriot — you know, she’s taken enormous amount of abuse, enormous,” O’Reilly said. 

Last month Sanders, who has a sometimes contentious relationship with the press corps, found herself the subject of multiple jokes from White House Correspondents’ Association dinner entertainer Michelle Wolf. 

“Every time Sarah steps up to the podium, I get excited. I’m not really sure what we’re going to get, you know? A press briefing, a bunch of lies or divided into softball teams,” Wolf said.

“I actually really like Sarah. I think she’s very resourceful,” Wolf added. “She burns facts and then she uses that ash to create a perfect smokey eye. Like maybe she’s born with it, maybe it’s lies.”

Sanders responded on Fox News earlier this month, saying, “I think that evening says a whole lot more about her than it does about me.”