This article originally appeared on time.com.
Bill O’Reilly on Tuesday said slaves who built the White House “were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government” in response to First Lady Michelle Obama’s Democratic National Convention speech.
The Fox News commentator and host of The O’Reilly Factor said on his show that the First Lady was “essentially correct” Monday when she said that she wakes up “every morning in a house that was built by slaves.”
“Slaves did participate in the construction of the white house,” O’Reilly said, along with “free blacks, whites and immigrants.”
“Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings, provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802,” the host added, “so Michelle Obama is essentially correct in citing slaves as builders of the White House, but there were others working as well.”
According to historical records, slaves helped to dig the White House’s foundation, among other tasks, and also worked inside the early White House.