Twitter Is Roasting Bill O'Reilly for Trying to Defend Slavery

Impact

On Monday night, first lady Michelle Obama delivered a mic-dropping speech at the Democratic National Convention, in part about race in America. 

"I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves," Obama said. 

Later, Fox News host Bill O'Reilly called Obama's point "fascinating," and decided to fact check what he seemed to believe was a heretofore unknown facet of United States history. After determining Obama was, in fact, right, O'Reilly attempted to clarify the finer points of slavery — you know, the institution that forcibly removed African people from their homes, separated them from their families and allowed them to bought and sold, beaten and raped.

"Slaves that worked there were well fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802," O'Reilly said on the O'Reilly Factor on Tuesday.

It didn't take long for Twitter users to drag O'Reilly for his comments, with producer and writer Shonda Rhimes leading the charge. 

"The idiocy never ceases to amaze me," Rhimes wrote. "Try slavery, Bill. Let us know how good food is while you wear chains."

Other users chimed in, taking O'Reilly down and riffing on his ignorant remarks:

O'Reilly later claimed "far left loons" distorted his comments, insisting he only proved Michelle Obama was correct.

But O'Reilly is going to be hard-pressed to find an out after essentially defending slavery, and his long track record of racist statements — calling black men "ill-educated" in April — isn't helping his case.

O'Reilly: Enough is enough.

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