Infamous Conservative Supports Book Bans—Just Not His

O’Reilly, a former Fox News host and author, has penned multiple books. 

Two of them—Killing Jesus: A History and Killing Reagan: The Violent Assault That Changed a Presidency—were included on a recently published list of books banned from the Escambia County School District pending an investigation.

The list of banned obtained by the Florida Freedom to Read Project included more than 1,000 titles. 

A spokesperson for the school district told local newspapers that were under review to ensure compliance with new state legislation prohibiting the circulation of materials in schools with sensitive content. 

Ironically, O’Reilly had previously supported these types of measures spearheaded by Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis—but the fact that some of his content has now been swept up by the expansive legislation seems to have given him a newfound sensitivity to the law’s ambiguity.

“When DeSantis signed the book law, I supported the theme because there was abuse going on in Florida. There were far-left progressive people trying to impose an agenda on children, there's no doubt about it. And the state has an obligation to protect children,” said O’Reilly to Newsweek. 

“But the wording of the law was far too nebulous in Tallahassee.”

Additionally, Escambia County’s book removal reportedly included five dictionaries and eight different encyclopedias.