Bill O’Reilly Defends ‘Well-Fed’ Slaves Comments

Bill O'Reilly used the first part of The O'Reilly Factor to defend a recent comment he made in response to Michelle Obama’s mention, during her speech at the Democratic National Convention, of slaves building the White House.

During the speech, the First Lady said, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves. And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women, playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.“ While some thought it was a wonderful statement, others — such as O'Reilly — took exception to her statement.

O'Reilly commented that the White House was not built exclusively by slaves and said, in fact, free black and white people also worked on the building’s construction. O'Reilly, however, drew ire from many by also saying, "Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802.”

After an uproar was caused by O'Reilly allegedly being soft on slavery, the pundit doubled down, saying, “As any honest historian knows, in order to keep slaves and free laborers strong, the Washington administration provided meat, bread and other staples, also decent lodging on the grounds of the new presidential building. That is a fact.”

The O'Reilly Factor airs weeknights at 8 p.m. ET on Fox News.

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