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

[truthyguy]

O'Reilly - what a class act!

[BeAfraiduall]

She was REALLY proud- The word really was edited out thanks to Fix news.

[tiredofhillary]

Well, it's about damn time.

He still needs to be fired!

[amanda85]

I saw no apology, you arrogant prick.

[Bobleblah1]

URGENT! URGENT! URGENT! URGENT!

READ THIS BEFORE ITS TOO LATE.

AN ABSOLUTE OUTRAGE!!!!!!

http://www.star-telegram.com/dallas_news/story/486413.html

[asfarasimconcerned]

unbelieveable!!

[JanSP1971]

Oh Bill that is so..... much crap. Again when is even the likes of FOX going to say ENOUGH of this racist!

[lezlib]

Do you think the likes of O'Reilly,Russert, Matthews, etal would have those gigs if they had the same physical look and were women? I don't think so!

[TimN]

Bill O'Reilly's apology fell short. It fell short not out of malice but out of ignorance. Let me explain. When O'Reilly grew up the word 'lynching' had a different conotation than it does today. If you had asked any ten year old in 1959 what 'lynching' meant visions of cowboys and outlaws would come to mind. The term did not come to be associated by most white Americans with black oppression until well into the 1970's when many of the details of the horrible incidents of the recent past first became widely known. O'Reilly used this term as a metaphor based upon his own construct of what the word meant to him. He had no intent to portray an actual lynching of a black person. That said, O'Reilly should have realized the word has a different meaning to those living Americans who actually experienced the horror and oppression that engulfed the lives of many Black Americans for more than half of the last century. He should have anticipated the imagery he caused them to invoke and should sincerely apologize to them for his profound carelessness. Of course, that doesn't mean he should apologize to Michelle Obama as her entire life seems to be devoid of any real oppression, and certainly not the threat of a lynching. Nor, should he apologize to the many white commenters here who feign outrage to somehow assuage their own misplaced guilt of being born white.

Now for Ms. Michelle Obama...

Oddly, Arriana Huffington waited until O'Reilly made his unfortunate remark to submit this story. This served two purposes. Ms. Huffington got a hit on a national news commentator she detests while simultaneously she masked the uncomfortable content of the real story. Ms. Obama's comment ironically was similar to that of O'Reilly's, but unlike him she never even tried to apologize. Her initial attempts at an explanation were weak and frustrating. It took the profound talents of her husband to put it into an acceptable context. There was a benefit, however. The incident shed a human light on the woman who would be first lady - her bullheadedness and surprisingly common communication skills laid out for the whole world to see.

[tbone99]

Actually Michelle's comment appeared here in a blog a day before the O'reilly video..Whether the video was delayed or not, I can't say.

[realpolitic]

How do you know anything at all of Michelle Obama? You are extremely presumptuous! For example, Condoleezza Rice grew up in the Jim Crow south where she had to use 'colored' facilities when she went into town. I am sure the same applies to Clarence Thomas. You should consider the assumptions you make before writing long, ranting tomes.

[TimN]

"How do you know anything at all of Michelle Obama?"

From Wikipedia:
"Michelle Robinson was born in Chicago, Illinois to Frasier Robinson (who died in 1990), a city water plant employee and Democratic precinct captain, and Marian Robinson, a secretary at Spiegel's catalog store; she grew up in the South Shore community area of Chicago. Unlike her husband, she was raised in a conventional two-parent home where the family convened around the dinner table nightly. She and her brother, Craig (who is 16 months older), skipped the second grade. Michelle graduated from Whitney Young Magnet High School in 1981 and went on to major in sociology and minor in African American studies at Princeton University, where she graduated cum laude with an Artium Baccalaureus in 1985. She obtained her Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in 1988."

I stand by my statement that Michelle Obama's "entire life seems to be devoid of any real oppression, and certainly not the threat of a lynching."

If you have any information that contradicts that please share.

[wmbear]

***THAT'S*** AN APOLOGY???...

"I'm sorry if my statement offended anybody"?????

That's no real apology. That's a Bill O'Reilly "apology." About as false as everything esle on Fox.

[jayesel]

Yes Bill context is everything. She's black and using the word lynching needs not be used in any context at all. Clarence Thomas was wrong, and so are you.

[nicho]

O'Reilly needs to apologize for his very existence. He is one of the leaders of the propaganda ministry and has done more damage to this country than all of Al Qaeda combined.

[Meah]

Some apology BillO! You are scum!

[JPar]

Poor old Bill. He has so much trouble controlling whatever nonsensical, demeaning or confrontational thought that emerges from his frontal lobe.

[OckhamsElectricRazor]

Why does Huffpro provide any free exposure for this literary prostitute? He is predictably irrelevant and simply crude. If Huffpro defines O'Reilly's rants as social commentary, then vandalism should be covered as social activism.

[turkeyneck]

we'll see if K.O. points this weak apology out on his show tonight.

[timothe]

In between his Bush vs Hitler comparisons?

Oh, I'm sorry. It's only the right that's bigoted, insensitive, and intolerant. I forgot.

[realpolitic]

Keith is not judging Bush on his skin color, but on his policies.

[01202009]

Billy must be aware that when President Obama is sworn in that there is a good chance the Fairness Doctrine will be reinstated. Billy and Limballs and the rest will be very hard pressed. Oh, while we are at it is there a chance we could send Murdock back to the country where he was born?