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Bill O’Reilly’s Accidental Truth Bomb on Racist History of the U.S. Draws Mocking Applause from Critics

Former Fox News host Bill O’Reilly drew praise from his critics Monday after his failed attempts to bash the idea of reparations.

As it turns out, his argument against efforts to compensate descendants of the enslaved contained more than a few unintentional truths about the history of “racist white men” in America.

Bill O'Reilly

Bill O’Reilly’s argument against reparations contained more than a few truths about the history of racism in the U.S. (Photo courtesy of Fox News)

“Slavery reparations is a far-left favorite because it does a number of things,” O’Reilly wrote in a recent Twitter thread, adding: “It reinforces the radical belief that the United States was founded by racist white men who installed a system whereby white guys would run everything and blacks, women and others would be exploited.”

The 69-year-old, who was forced out at Fox News in 2017 amid a sexual harassment scandal, relayed a similar message on his personal website, where he argued that reparations would do more to divide the nation, and couldn’t possibly be enough to atone for the countless wrongs committed in centuries past.

His series of tweets sparked a flurry of reactions from critics, many of whom were surprised at his mere acknowledgement of America’s racist history.

“Bill O’Reilly seriously just summed up all of American history, yet he thinks he’s being sarcastic,” one Twitter user wrote.

Bill O'Reilly

(Twitter screenshot)

“I really don’t understand the point of this Tweet because even a delusional prick like Bill O’Reilly knows this is literally how the USA was founded, right?” another chimed in.

Another critic wondered, “Is this a parody account? Because the real Bill O’Reilly has literally never described US history this accurately.”

Bill O'Reilly

(Twitter screenshot)

One user pointed out that O’Reilly had paid reparations himself when he shelled out $32 million to settle a lawsuit brought by woman who accused him of sexual harassment. According to the New York Times, the former anchor had paid an estimated $45 million to settle multiple claims of sexual misconduct during his time at Fox.

Bill O'Reilly

(Twitter screenshot)

“32 million bucks says that you shouldn’t be talking about rich white men exploiting women,” Sleeping Giants, an anti-bigotry and sexism campaign, tweeted.

“Bill O’Reilly. Tweeting about reparations,” another began. “REPARATIONS. A form of restitution you pay to someone you’ve harmed. Like, for example, to settle sexual harassment lawsuits. And he did this. OF HIS OWN FREE WILL. Today. This is a free website.”

In a follow-up tweet, the disgraced pundit argued that reparations also suggest that, “personal responsibility does not count when the legacy of slavery dropped a curtain of oppression on the Black race and there’s no recovering from that.”

“The radical left says our society remains unjust to this day — forget personal responsibility,” he concluded.

On his blog, O’Reilly also made the bizarre assertion that reparations completely overlook the hardships and oppression faced by his white, Irish ancestors.

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