Eric Bolling, a television host for The Blaze, said he confronted a man who mocked his son’s death.
Bolling was at Trump International Hotel in Washington when the man approached their table while talking on the phone.
Bolling said the man then turned toward himself and Hayden Williams, a conservative activist, and said: “Eric Bolling’s son killed himself because he was embarrassed by his dad.”
Bolling’s son, Eric Chase Bolling, died in September 2017 from a drug overdose.
.@EricBolling was sitting with some friends at Trump Hotel in D.C. when a man walked by his table & said, loud enough for them to hear, Eric’s son “killed himself because he was embarrassed by his dad.”
Eric followed the hateful man outside & started filming what came next… pic.twitter.com/51FhqG6Nmh
— BlazeTV (@BlazeTV) March 21, 2019
Bolling recounted the incident on his television show on March 20, relaying what happened next.
“It was a drive-by hit on me using the most hateful words a human being can deliver to a grieving father. I got up and followed this hateful moron out of the hotel,” Bolling said.
Video footage showed Bolling confronting the man, whose face was blurred out.
“I chased him down and yelled whatever comes to the mind of a man who has just been told his son killed himself because of him. Yep, I used some bad words. Yes, I followed him and yes, I shouted at him. But no, I do not apologize,” Bolling added.
In a clip he played, Bolling says repeatedly, “My son is dead.” He said that another unidentified man who filmed the scene was smiling. “Do you think this is funny?” Bolling added.
Back in the studio, Bolling said: “These men are despicable people,” he said, calling them “thugs.”
He blurred the men’s faces so they wouldn’t face retribution of any sort.
Bolling said that what the man did was evil.
“Have we all lost our collective minds? We’re all human beings here,” he said. “And some things are just off-limits.”
“The drug problem is universal, it should bring us together, not be used as a tool of hate to the vulnerable,” he added.
Bolling said he would not be intimidated by what happened. “God Bless the President Trump, God Bless his supporters, God Bless the United States of America, and [expletive] those among us who use hate to fuel a political agenda,” he said.
Williams, who was recently punched while helping recruit for a conservative group at a California university, told the Daily Caller that the events unfolded as Bolling described.
“Quite frankly, it was one of the most disgusting, despicable things I’ve ever heard anyone say to another person,” said Williams.
Glenn Beck, a former Fox News host who left and started The Blaze, said on Twitter that he was praying for Bolling.
“I also pray for the men who found pleasure in their cruelty to a grieving father. We indeed are better than this,” he said. “If we DECIDE that we are not then we deserve to spiral into chaos. It will be our choice, will we choose to treat each other better than we have?”
I pray for Eric. I also pray for the men who found pleasure in their cruelty to a grieving father. We indeed are better than this.if we DECIDE that we are not then we deserve to spiral into chaos. It will be our choice, will we choose to treat each other better than we have? https://t.co/7EQELl68VU
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) March 22, 2019
Former Secretary to the United Nations Nikki Haley was also among those responding.
“I’m so very sorry @ericbolling. No one deserves this. This inexcusable,” she said. “I pray for you and your family to find peace.
I’m so very sorry @ericbolling. No one deserves this. This inexcusable. I pray for you and your family to find peace. ???????? https://t.co/irLoUK1m09
— Nikki Haley (@NikkiHaley) March 22, 2019