Congressional Black Caucus Demands Bill O’Reilly Apologize For Saying He Wants To “Slap” Rep. Jim Clyburn

Special Programs Guns & Public Safety

Written by Media Matters Staff

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The Congressional Black Caucus has demanded a public apology from Fox News’ Bill O’Reilly, after O’Reilly stated he wanted to “slap” Rep. Jim Clyburn for his push to strengthen gun safety laws.

The Congressional Black Caucus’ call for an apology comes after O’Reilly’s June 16 appearance on Fox News’ Fox & Friends, where O’Reilly attacked Clyburn’s call for stronger gun legislation, saying “I just want to slap him, with all due respect.” O’Reilly continued, asking “What is it going to take? Do the ISIS people have to come to your backyard, do they have to put you in a cage?”



Politico reported that the Congressional Black Caucus Chairman G.K. Butterfield stated “The Congressional Black Caucus is absolutely outraged” at O’Reilly, calling on O’Reilly to “disavow the statement and apologize” to Clyburn:

The Congressional Black Caucus wants Fox News host Bill O'Reilly to disavow and apologize for remarks he made earlier Thursday on the network in which he said that he wanted to “slap” Rep. Jim Clyburn (D-S.C.) “with all due respect” for focusing on gun control over terrorism in the wake of the Orlando attack.



“The Congressional Black Caucus is absolutely outraged,” Chairman G.K. Butterfield (D-N.C.) told POLITICO, adding that the caucus is calling “upon [O'Reilly] to disavow the statement and apologize” to Clyburn.



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“It's reminiscent of the reckless statements that are being made by the Republican nominee,” Butterfield said.

This is not the first time has O’Reilly faced backlash from congressional lawmakers for his attacks. O’Reilly has previously drawn criticism for his racial attacks on minority members of Congress, including Congresswoman Barbara Lee (D-CA), Rep. Colleen Hanabusa (D-HI), Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY), and Rep. Yvette Clarke (C-NY). Lee has previously condemned O’Reilly’s description of her as a “race hustler,” describing his attacks as “disgusting and divisive,” a “thinly veiled racial attack,” concluding comments similar to O’Reilly “should never be accepted in our national discourse.” Rep. Hanabusa has called for O’Reilly’s public apology after “insulting” comments on Asian-Americans, after O’Reilly claimed “Asian people are not liberal, you know, by nature. They’re usually more industrious and hard-working.” O’Reilly has additionally accused CBC members Rep. Charles Rangel and Rep. Yvette Clarke of wanting to “divide the country along racial lines, because that’s good for business.”