Talk Show Host Blasts Caller’s ‘Anti-Christmas’ Attitude
Fox News talk show host Bill O’Reilly chastised a Jewish caller on his radio show who objected to “Christmas going into schools.”
The caller said he “grew up with a resentment because I felt that people were trying to convert me to Christianity.”
In response, O’Reilly, a self-described traditionalist who has suggested that much of the media is run by Jews, said that “if you are really offended, you gotta go to Israel” because America is “a predominantly Christian nation” with “a federal holiday based on the philosopher Jesus,” according to a transcript of the show posted at the Web site Media Matters.org.
“[W]e live in a country founded on Judeo- and — that’s your guys’ — Christian, that’s my guys’ philosophy,” O’Reilly said, according to the transcript. “But overwhelmingly, America is Christian. And the holiday is a federal holiday honoring the philosopher Jesus. So, you don’t wanna hear about it? Impossible. And that is an affront to the majority. You know, the majority can be insulted, too. And that’s what this anti-Christmas thing is all about.”
Did you know that only 2% of Forward readers donate to support our nonprofit newsroom? That 2% make it possible for millions to read the Forward without a paywall or subscription — removing any barriers to the full and fair Jewish story.
But while the Forward is free to read, it isn’t free to produce. Big stories — like deep dives into the antisemitism data, political scoops or reporting trips to college campuses — take months of research and fact-checking. All while we keep you informed of what you need to know each day.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Forward Publisher & CEO
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
