Audra McDonald Reacts To Bill O’Reilly’s ‘Well Fed’ Slaves Comment

Audra McDonald was among the many who took issue with Bill O’Reilly‘s response to the line in Michelle Obama‘s Democratic National Convention speech that pointed out the fact that slave labor was used to build the White House.

Audra McDonald Slams Bill O’Reilly

During Michelle Obama’s speech Monday evening, Day 2 of the DNC, she said, “I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves.” The FLOTUS added, “And I watch my daughters—two beautiful, intelligent, black young women—playing with their dogs on the White House lawn. Because of Hillary Clinton, my daughters and all of our sons and daughters now take for granted that a woman can be President of the United States.”

O’Reilly said on his program, “Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” adding, “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. Got it?”

On Twitter, McDonald took O’Reilly to task for the apologist remarks, pointing out the truly harsh conditions that were experienced by slaves in America.

“Dear Bill O’Reilly…live in this,” she captioned a picture of slave’s hut.

McDonald wrote, “Dear Bill O’Reilly…Wear these,” next to a picture of a slave with his wrists manacled.

“Dear Bill O’Reilly…Take a ride on this,” she captioned a picture of a crowded slave ship.

McDonald shared a picture of a slave’s back, scarred from whippings, writing, “Dear Bill O’Reilly…endure some of these…”

She also posted a picture of a drawing of a mother being sold away from her child. “Dear Bill O’Reilly…live through this a few times…,” she wrote.

McDonald concluded her Twitter posts thusly: “Dear Bill O’Reilly…Maybe now you’ll get why people are having a hard time with your description of the slaves ‘accommodations’.”

McDonald was in attendance at the third day of the DNC, performing “What The World Needs Now Is Love” with other Broadway stars, including Idina Menzel, Darren Criss, Kristen Bell, Debra Messing, Brian Stokes Mitchell, Ben Vereen, Rosie Perez and more.