There was a general consensus (at least across social media) that first lady of the United States Michelle Obama‘s Democratic National Convention (DNC) speech was the highlight of Monday night’s festivities.
She had poise, vigour, and an eloquence that revved up the crowd and even brought some people to tears. She also raised a poignant point about living in the White House, and how she has to “wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.”
“I watch my daughters — two beautiful, intelligent, black young women — playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”
Fox News anchor Bill O’Reilly managed to put his own spin on the line, trying to somehow justify the use of slaves for contracted labour.
“Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labour in 1802,” he said.
“However, the feds did not forbid subcontractors from using slave labour. So, Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well. Got it all? There will be a quiz.”
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Widely condemned as insensitive and irrelevant to the point Obama was trying to make, O’Reilly’s remarks were criticized strongly on Twitter.
Obama has not commented on O’Reilly’s rebuttal to her speech, and O’Reilly has not yet responded to the backlash (as of this writing).
The DNC continues tonight with speeches by President Barack Obama and Vice-President Joe Biden.
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