Al Franken is still suspicious about Bill O’Reilly‘s childhood.
On Friday’s radio broadcast in front of 200 New Yorkers, Franken dedicated several segments to “investigating where on Long Island arch-nemesis Bill O’Reilly grew up,” Newsday says. “Were O’Reilly’s roots in blue-collar Levittown as the Fox television star insists? Or was he a product of the comparatively ritzy Westbury?” Here’s an excerpt from the story:
| Franken quoted O’Reilly recalling his Levittown days in a 2000 New York Observer article: “You don’t come from any lower than I came from on an economic scale.” Franken then quoted a subsequent Washington Post article in which O’Reilly’s mother said the family was from Westbury. “This would make him what we call…” Franken began. “A liar!” the crowd replied. |
| When Franken interviewed Hofstra professor and Levittown expert Barbara Kelly on the air, he learned there was no lie to uncover. O’Reilly, Kelly declared, had grown up in Levittown, in an area that overlapped with the outskirts of Westbury. “Well,” Franken said, a hint of disappointment in his voice, “maybe he’s just kind of … [fooling], could that be it?” |
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