--- title: Bill O'Reilly Responds to Backlash: Well-Fed Slaves Comments description: Bill O'Reilly responds to criticism of his comment that slaves who built the White House were 'well-fed.' canonical: https://time.com/4428159/bill-oreilly-responds-to-backlash-after-his-slavery-comments/ author: Julia Zorthian article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-07-28T13:11:24.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T23:37:02.062Z article:section: Politics og:title: Bill O'Reilly Responds to Criticism of His Slavery Comments og:description: “That is a fact. Not a justification, not a defense of slavery." og:url: https://time.com/4428159/bill-oreilly-responds-to-backlash-after-his-slavery-comments/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0af4e27fabc04d5c/69889ffafb4eacb93788e856/bill-oreilly-respond-criticism-slave-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: bill oreilly respond criticism slave comments og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Bill O'Reilly Responds to Criticism of His Slavery Comments twitter:description: “That is a fact. Not a justification, not a defense of slavery." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt0af4e27fabc04d5c/69889ffafb4eacb93788e856/bill-oreilly-respond-criticism-slave-comments.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Bill O'Reilly Responds to Backlash After His Slavery Comments  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 28, 2016 1:11 PM UTC  Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly in 2015. Fox News Channel host Bill O'Reilly in 2015.Richard Drew—AP  by [Julia Zorthian](https://time.com/author/julia-zorthian/)  ## Julia Zorthian Jul 28, 2016 1:11 PM UTC Bill O’Reilly responded Wednesday night to a slew of criticism about how [he said the slaves](http://time.com/4426003/bill-oreilly-slaves-white-house-michelle-obama/), who Michelle Obama had said built the White House, “were well-fed and had decent lodgings” during his Tuesday show. After people took to social media [to rip into](http://time.com/4426512/shonda-rhimes-bill-oreilly-slavery-comments/) O’Reilly for what was perceived as downplaying the horror of slavery, the _O’Reilly Factor_ host called it “a given that slavery is an abomination.” During his show and online, O’Reilly said the blowback mischaracterized the nature of his comments. “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,” O’Reilly continued. “That is a fact. Not a justification, not a defense of slavery.” > [](https://twitter.com/oreillyfactor/status/758335326477701126) O’Reilly wasn’t the first to point out the conditions for slaves who built the White House — being “well-fed” [has long been used](http://time.com/4426477/bill-oreilly-white-house-slaves-history/) as a rationalization for the government’s use of slave labor. \[[_NYT_](http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/28/business/media/bill-oreilly-says-slaves-who-helped-build-white-house-were-well-fed.html)\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4428159/bill-oreilly-responds-to-backlash-after-his-slavery-comments/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4428159/bill-oreilly-responds-to-backlash-after-his-slavery-comments/"},"headline":"Bill O'Reilly Responds to Backlash After His Slavery Comments","datePublished":"2016-07-28T13:11:24.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T23:37:02.062Z","description":"“That is a fact. 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