For his “tip of the day” Tuesday night, Fox News host Bill O’Reilly chose to delve into a growing right-wing controversy over a line from first lady Michelle Obama’s DNC speech about waking up every morning “in a house built by slaves.” While O’Reilly admitted that “slaves did participate in the construction of the White House,” he made a point to note that “free blacks, whites, and immigrants” also contributed. Then came this assertion, delivered without irony: “Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labor. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well.”
