Bill O’Reilly’s controversial reaction to Michelle Obama’s speech at the Democratic National Convention sparked outrage and criticism.

“I wake up every morning in a house that was built by slaves,” the first lady said in her speech on Monday, praising social progress in the U.S. “And I watch my daughters, two beautiful, intelligent, black young women playing with their dogs on the White House lawn.”

O’Reilly noted that “Michelle Obama is essentially correct” on his Fox News show “The O’Reilly Factor” on Tuesday.

“Michelle Obama referenced slaves building the White House in referring to the evolution of America in a positive way. It was a positive comment,” O’Reilly said.

But his remark that “slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government” earned the Fox host some serious backlash.

“Slaves did participate in the construction of the White House. Records show about 400 payments made to slave masters between 1795 and 1801. In addition, free blacks, whites, and immigrants also worked on the massive building. There were no illegal immigrants at that time. If you could make it here, you could stay here,” O’Reilly said.

“Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government, which stopped hiring slave labor in 1802. 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,” he concluded.

O’Reilly was slammed by social media users, with the Washington Post calling his response “immoral.”

“Bill O’Reilly thinks slaves were ‘well fed’. So will he eat like one for a week?” | Michael Twitty https://t.co/KEJmcDYnD0

— Glen Donnar (@glendud) July 28, 2016

Bill O’Reilly is miseducating white folk, again. https://t.co/sWJd0Wn7BH

— rasondas (@rasondas) July 28, 2016

Bill O’Reilly… How ignorant could you be?

— Donovan Pink (@OGdonpink25) July 28, 2016

Bill O’Reilly is officially the dumbest smart person in the world https://t.co/5KKZbbBEUJ

— Drayson (@Rjinswand) July 28, 2016

How dare @oreillyfactor defend the practice of slavery?! He should be fired and/or resign for saying something so ignorant. #BillOReilly

— Sam Levine (@Sam_Levine) July 27, 2016

#BillOreilly says slaves who built #WhiteHouse were well fed & had decent lodges. Bill-they were still slaves!

— Carl Dix (@Carl_Dix) July 27, 2016

I’m starting a movement to build a wall around Bill O’Reilly. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure he’s just as well-fed as the slaves were.

— Erin Entrada Kelly (@erinkellytweets) July 27, 2016

But some Twitter users defended O’Reilly and said critics missed his point. The Fox News host, who did say the first lady’s comments were positive, came to his own defense on Twitter.

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Far left loons distort tip about @FLOTUS statement that slaves built White House. She’s correct & I provided facts. More on The Factor -BO’R

— Bill O’Reilly (@oreillyfactor) July 27, 2016

@erinkellytweets He was backing up the first lady and ppl are unfairly trying to smear him. disgusting.

— Bob Lee (@rlee166) July 28, 2016

@Carl_Dix Yes, and he made that perfectly clear. Don’t let ppl lead you down the wrong path, he was backing up the first lady.

— Bob Lee (@rlee166) July 28, 2016

@Sam_Levine @oreillyfactor defending it? THIS is yellow journalism. He never defended it. He stated historical facts. Shame on YOU

— suzi pettit (@my4k9s) July 27, 2016

@Sam_Levine @oreillyfactor He didn’t defend slavery in the slightest an ppl making hay out of this should be ashamed.

— Bob Lee (@rlee166) July 28, 2016

@vandy73 Can you point out where Bill said that made it ok, please do. Everything he said is correct and he was not defending slavery.

— Ray, Cancer Survivor (@USSGOBLiN) July 27, 2016

@vandy73 He was backing up the first lady. ppl are trying to smear him. Don’t fall for this nonsense.

— Bob Lee (@rlee166) July 28, 2016

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Frieda Powers

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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida where she has been writing for the BizPacReview team since 2015.

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