Bill O'Reilly Apologizes For Michelle Obama "Lynching" Remark

First, there was the offensive remark. Then, the producer's defense of the comment, followed by the requisite Olbermann weigh-in. And, finally, the apology: on his show last night, Bill O'Reilly apologized for saying, "I don't want to go on a lynching party against Michelle Obama unless there's evidence." O'Reilly's exact words:

"While talking to a radio caller, I said there should be no lynching in the case, that comment off Clarence Thomas saying he was the victim of a high tech lynching (he said that on 60 Minutes, you may remember). I'm sorry if my statement offended anybody. That, of course, was not the intention. Context is everything."

Watch:

Comments

[brooklyncitizen]

That snide smirk when he "apologized" was really gross....h­e is from Long Island there eis o otehr explanation for it.Ugh.

[bushmocker]

Just another non apology apology.Wa­s there any question of the context of his remark?He said it was ok to lynch.Why is he still on the air?Must be ok to be a bigot if you have an audience..­......I've never watched him and never will,he's part of what's wrong with America.

[nolalily]

Can't we tell by now when we're being lied to?

[thatwasntfunny]

Bill O'Reilly: should read this... (excerpt)
In the early 1900’s Mary Turner was upset about the lynching of her husband. Mary was eight months pregnant and made a comment that she would get even with those who hung her husband and would sign arrest warrants against the killers. The white residents of Valdosta, Georgia decided to teach her a lesson for being uppity enough to be vocal about her pain. A mob found her tied her upside down to a tree, doused her with gasoline and burned her alive. One of the crowd members took a knife and split her belly open letting the baby fall out. Another member of the crowd smashed the baby’s head with his foot. Then the crowd took out their guns and filled the burning body of Mary Turner with bullets. The Associated Press wrote that Mary Turner had made unwise remarks about the execution of her husband.

In Colombus, Mississippi a mob looking for the son of Cordelia Stevenson for allegedly burning a white man’s barn couldn’t find the boy so they satisfied their evil thirst by stripping and hanging Cordelia naked for public viewing. The (all-white) jury verdict was not guilty of murder.

In Okemah, Oklahoma, in 1911, Laura Nelson was accused of killing the local sheriff. A mob entered the jail where she was being held to go to court for the allegations. They took her from her cell , raped her, then took her teenage son and hung her and her son from a bridge. They then used the bodies for target practice. It was later determined that neither Nelson nor her son had anything to do with the death of the sheriff.

Between 1882 and 1968, 4,742 Blacks were lynched by mobs, mostly for being "uppity."

[KitChandler]

Bill O'Reilly reminds me of those who wore hoods and white sheets. Martin Luther King is an example of what can happen to Blacks who deign to move beyond the boundaries that racists set for them.
There are so many sick and racists folk today that it takes only a suggestion to provoke killings and assassinations.
CERTAINLY If DAVID SHUSTER CAN BE SUSPENDED FOR TWO WEEKS FOR USING THE WORD PIMP, THEN O'REILEY CAN BE SUSPENDED (TERMINTED) FOR STATING THAT MICHELLE OBAMA SHOULD BE LYNCHED.

[calfacon]

That was not an apology! That was more lies and blaming HER for being offended. I am offended, digusted, repulsed. I'd vow to never watch F---News again, but I never do now.

[Georgiadude]

Complete BS, he knows what he said. That was not an apology, it was an explanation, he was clarifying the context and in a sense saying that what he said was perfectly alright to say, we were mistaken, as we all should know, Clarence Thomas said it, sickening.

As far as I'm concerned, this man is a threat to our country and our way of life.

The sponsors need to be boycotted by the American public.

[kvass]

After watching that clip I came away feeling dirty, that I had just watched something sleazy, totally filthy and completely unnecessary.
However I would have expected it to elicit more then 123 comments. Thankfully the comments have been fair.

[enoughalready13]

I have lost respect for Bill. He did nothing wrong. Michelle Obama's words were wrong. She is the one who should be apologizing and not "clarifying" what she meant.

[olgraydawg]

We all know billow is bought and paid for, but the 'excrement' probably increased his bank account by displaying how vile he is. Progress comes slowly, if at all...

[Collielady]

O'Reilly's pathetic apology was designed to minimize the issue, to quickly get it over with and make it go away. The question is, why does he have such a following?

He's a bottom feeder, no doubt, but we must recognize that he is providing a unique service to the multitude of Americans who lack critical thinking skills. When this country begins to value public education again O'Reilly and his ilk will lose their stranglehold on the hearts and minds of their flock. Until that happens we can expect more of the same.

[realpolitic]

So right!

[ChristianEcon.com]

When will he apologize for his career on Fox and all the destruction he's advocated? All the illiterate arrogance he's promoted?

I won't hold my breath; some people have very very little conscience.

[realpolitic]

None at all!

[Silpat]

O'Reilly's insincere apology only serves to make future sanctimonious rants from him worthless in my eyes.

I really was expecting O'Reilly, as a Christian, to do the right thing and not come up with some dishonest spiel about Clarence Thomas.... In fact, I'm starting to think this man really is a racist.

[lezlib]

Clarence Thomas can say anything he wants about lynchings. In case no one has noticed, he is black!

[Silpat]

Don't try to change the direction of this topic, O'Reilly himself said to Dennis Miller, "Words matter".

O'Reilly making veiled threats or suggesting violent acts against Mrs. Obama is very serious and his words matter. In fact, I definitely think the FCC should get involved in this case.

[realpolitic]

His illusion to a "high-tech lynching" demeaned those who were actually lynched or lived through it in the South. His metaphorical "lynching" was just a stenuous interrogation for one of the most important jobs in our country. It was Congress performing its function. Thomas just self-servingly said that phrase to bring the process to a close in his favor.

[wmholt]

As far as O'Reilly being a Christian, I'm not sure why you would think that his lying, hatefulness, arrogance, and practice of sexual harassment is evidence that he is a Christian. He falls into the category of "so-called Christian".

If you believe everyone that says that they are a Christian, then you would have to believe that George Bush is also a Christian.

Jesus said that a tree is known by its fruit, and specifically warned against those that falsely speak in His name.

[nancytheragingliberal]

Bill is so into Bill. He does not have the sincerity to say he is sorry for anything. Faux-Fake News is a joke. Fair and balanced, my A**. I used to watch only 1 show on Fox, which was Fox News Watch. Guess what? They canned the only fair and balanced show they had! It was too moderate/p­rogressive for them. I am sure their pipe-line into the White House gave them their firing orders.

[realpolitic]

Rupert Murdoch could not sleep at night knowing he had one actual "fair and balanced" show. He had to cancel it.

[DRaymond]

You know, when radio guys go unrearsed you need to give them a little bit of slack. Sure lynching was not the best choice of words but it is not automatically racist.

What is more reprehensible is when these propagandists in their highly rehearsed comments start pushing the racial buttons.

[bushmocker]

I guess you have to rehearse those lynching lines out of the script to give everyone a better picture of what he isn't.

[realpolitic]

Yes, I guess you are right. Calling for the African-American wife of a politician to be lynched is not as bad as saying it was wrong of him to use that phrase. I get it! When will you be giving morality lessons at Harvard?

I suppose someone who reports a crime is as guilty as the one who committed it? Keep trying!

[guntotinganglion]

Fire this racist.