Bill O'Reilly, who supports Florida book ban laws, is outraged after his own books come under review
Fox News
- Bill O'Reilly is furious that two of his books were removed from a Florida school district.
- O'Reilly has been supportive of book ban laws in Florida.
- He vowed to find out who put his books up for review and "put their pictures up on television."
Former longtime Fox News host Bill O'Reilly is outraged after Florida's book ban laws — which he has vehemently supported —have now called his own books into question for review.
He said on X, formerly known as Twitter, that a Florida county has removed his books "Killing Jesus" and "Killing Reagan" from it schools.
"Preposterous!" O'Reilly said in the post. "We are investigating and are seeking comment from @GovRonDeSantis. This will not stand."
O'Reilly's books were included in a list of 1,000 books that were temporarily removed in Escambia County pending an investigation of their material under state law, according to Newsweek.
Conservatives in Florida have been waging a campaign to remove ideas that they disagree with from public schools. In recent years, Florida has passed laws banning the teaching of critical race theory and passed sweeping book bans that critics say focus on books containing LGBTQ+ topics and those by LGBTQ+ authors.
Before Friday, O'Reilly had been a staunch supporter of these laws.
"When DeSantis signed the book law, I supported the theme because there was abuse going on in Florida," he told Newsweek. "There were far-left progressive people trying to impose an agenda on children, there's no doubt about it."
O'Reilly went on to say that he now thinks the wording in the book ban laws is "far too nebulous" and that Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis should publicly declare it "insane" that O'Reilly's books have been removed.
O'Reilly said he still believes some books should be banned from schools, but the law should be adjusted.
"I want to emphasize the fact that there are abuses in certain school districts that harm children. There are materials that are inappropriate and those materials have to be specifically included in the law with language that is very specific," O'Reilly told Newsweek. "You can't be throwing John Grisham under the bus, it's absurd."
O'Reilly also vowed to find out specifically who in the school district removed the books and "put their pictures up on television and on my website," according to Newsweek.
O'Reilly hosted "The O'Reilly Factor" on Fox News for more than 20 years before leaving the network. He left Fox News in 2017 after he and the network reportedly paid out $13 million in settlements to women who had accused him of sexual harassment. O'Reilly has denied the women's allegations.