O'Reilly's claim about Michigan town's opposition to Christmas colors is “flat-out not true”

Saginaw, Michigan, responded to Bill O'Reilly's false claim that “the township [Saginaw] opposes red and green clothing on anyone.” O'Reilly offered this falsehood on The Radio Factor as part of a list of practices constituting what he characterized as an anti-Christmas “hysteria.”

As the weblog Crooks and Liars has noted, Saginaw, Michigan, has responded to Fox News host Bill O'Reilly's false claim that “the township [Saginaw] opposes red and green clothing on anyone.” O'Reilly offered this falsehood on the December 9 broadcast of his nationally syndicated radio show, The Radio Factor, as part of a list of practices constituting what he characterized as anti-Christmas “hysteria.” According to a report on the website of WNEM-TV 5, a Saginaw TV station, “O'Reilly's comments are flat-out not true. [Township supervisor Tim] Braun goes on to say the township hall has red and green Christmas lights adorning the building at night.”

While reading his list, O'Reilly also falsely asserted that the Plano, Texas, Independent School District prohibited students from wearing red and green clothing.

From the December 9 broadcast of Westwood One's The Radio Factor with Bill O'Reilly:

O'REILLY: In Saginaw, Michigan, the township opposes red and green clothing on anyone. [Laughing] In Saginaw Township, they basically said, anybody, we don't want you to wear red or green. I would dress up head to toe in red to green if I were in Saginaw, Michigan.