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15 ways to get out of a conversation with someone who won't stop talking

You can leave the conversation without being rude, but it can be tricky.

via Canva/Photos

A woman is bored by a very long story.

There are few things worse than getting stuck in a conversation with someone who can’t stop talking. It’s even worse when that person is a coworker you must see daily, and they repeatedly chew your ear off. The tricky part is that you want them to stop, but it’s hard without being rude.

Sometimes, it feels like the best thing to do is to walk away. However, there are a lot of people who are neurodivergent and have ADHD or autism and have a hard time noticing the signs that they have been talking too much or noticing other people’s cues that it’s time to wrap it up. So, in those cases, it’s important to be polite because the other person may know they are being rude.

What’s the best way to end a conversation with someone who won’t stop talking? A group of folks online have been discussing the topic, and we put together a list of their most effective ways to exit a conversation. Most of the suggestions are polite, but some folks make the point that if someone is talking up the entire conversation, won’t let anyone get a word in edgewise, and is wasting other people’s time, it’s ok to be a little blunt and walk away. If they're going to be rude, you don't have to be 100% polite.

Here are 15 ways to get out of a conversation with someone who won’t stop talking.

1. Positivity sandwich

"The positivity sandwich works well for anything that can be perceived as critical or negative. Positive/negative/positive. Examples:
'Hey Jim, it was great catching up (positive), but I need to get back to my work, so I can't talk (negative). I love your tie (positive).'"

2. Slow walk back

"I struggled with this for years. If in person, start slowly walking somewhere while talking and, along the way, exclude yourself for some reason. (To use the washroom, do something else, etc.) It takes some practice, but eventually, it’ll become second nature. I now do this all the time. If it’s something remote like a call or video meeting, have your device 'unexpectedly drop.'"

3. Be firm

"A firm 'Excuse me for a moment.' Shuts them up pretty quickly, and it's polite AF."

"Excuse me for a moment, but just stare intently into their eyes, no movement, no sound. But, yeah, I like this."

4. Ear pods

"I have an old lady neighbor who used to pop out with questions whenever I left the house. I started leaving with AirPods in, gesturing that I was on a call. I work from home, so it's believable. I do the same with charity muggers. With my other neighbor, who is ok for 5 mins, I give it 5 mins and say, 'ok, nice to catch up, I gotta dash.'"

5. 'I just remembered...'

"I find the best, most polite conversation breaker is to remember something very important just then. I'll kind of look to the side and do a routine that says, "Oh Crap, I just remembered," and then haul off. Then I'll just apologize later.

'Oh Crap, I was supposed to call X.'
'Oh crap, I was supposed to get with X.'
'Oh Crap, I've got a ZOOM in 5'
'Crap, I totally spaced, I've got to get to X'

I've been in some real face-numbing conversations before I learned this secret and ancient art. It's one fluid motion right out of the conversation. A flinch, a troubled face, a checking of the phone or the time, and walking out."

6. Stay strong

"The absolute most important thing is do not positively engage the conversation. If you contribute, it becomes exponential."

"This is hard for me to do, actually. And I know that it becomes exponentially worse when you engage... I just need to not engage."

7. Just walk away

"My ex-wife would literally just walk away from someone when they wouldn't stop talking. I loved it because it gave me an out from the conversation, lmao."

"I look at it this way: they don't respect my time, so I don't feel like I need to respect their feelings."

8. Conform their point and then bail

"I will usually repeat something they just said and agree with it, rephrase it, and then apologize for talking their ear off and say I need to get going, but it was nice chatting with them and start walking off. 'Yes! Exactly like, obviously, the moon landing was fake. It is ridiculous that more people don't see that. Like obviously, if you look at all the facts you mentioned, people should realize that it's obvious. But man, I'm sorry for taking so much of your time. I need to get going, but it was nice chatting with you.'"

9. The white flag

"When you are approaching your saturation point, throw out a white flag as a warning. Just like a race car driver gets a white flag indicating time constraints, you must throw one before you can legitimately stop a monopolizer in his tracks. For example, You are in your office, and your friend Gary comes by to tell you about his golf game. When you are running out of time, interest, or willpower, you throw a white flag by saying: 'Wow, Gary, that’s an amazing round you shot. Before you continue, I need to let you know that in a few minutes, I have to get back to preparing the budget.' You have politely given Gary the signal that you need to end the conversation shortly. Gary takes another four minutes telling you of his exploits on the twelfth and thirteenth holes. You can now wrap it up by saying: 'Well, Gary, that’s really something. I have to take care of the budget right now. Maybe we can catch up another time.' You can now turn your attention to your budget without worry. You were gracious and obliging, and you gave fair warning that it was time to end the chat."

10. Burst out laughing

"At my previous job, I was in the lunch room with a couple of colleagues. One of them asked about our weekends. My answer was pretty succinct, but the other guy ended up talking for almost half an hour about every single thing that happened to him that weekend. Once I realized how long he'd been talking, I actually burst out laughing. I felt a bit bad explaining why I found it so amusing, but it did at least get him to stop."

11. Is this a speech?

"Don’t put up with this BS. Walk away or explain two people talking is a conversation, you talking is a speech. Do you want to have a conversation or give speeches? Don’t tailor to his narcissism."

12. Look disengaged

"Do what I do. Look as disengaged as possible. Shift weight from one foot to the other. Put your hands on your hips. Look at your phone. Look around the room. Don’t make much eye contact. When people see that you are clearly not a willing participant in what’s essentially a spiel, they’ll typically ask if they’re keeping you. That, my friend, is your get-out-of-jail-free card. If that doesn’t work, walk right towards the door, interrupt him, and tell him you have a whole day’s worth of events planned out and have to be on your way."

13. I will let you go

"I will let you go. I'm sure you're busy, and I have to <what you have to do>. It was nice talking with you. We'll talk later.' Hopefully, they say bye, and then you say bye. If not, then, 'Well, I really gotta go. Talk to you later, bye.'"

"This is a good one, I usually end up saying, 'Oh well, I better let you go then' if they are talking about how much they still have to do, another is 'Well, I don't want to hold you back' I think these work because the other person likes to think they're really busy and have a hectic schedule but really you just haven't got a word in edgeways and good conversation needs to be talking and listening. These only really work if a person brings up what they are about to do, etc."

14. Make it a walking conversation

"Make a move and move nearer to that person like you're gonna walk and talk at the same time, and they will probably back away because of the need for private space. If you were successful, you'd have moved this convo from a stationary one to a moving one. Walk faster so that the other party pants and doesn't talk that much. If he/she still persists, pray and good luck to you because you'll need it."

15. The awkward joke

"My response to these types of conversations used to be that of "running away" because it felt very aggressive and confrontational to me, but now that I've been focusing on learning better listening skills, I've started a new approach. Sometimes, it's making a confusing joke; sometimes, it's a dumb wink or, a poke, or a laugh. It totally depends on the person and the situation, but if you actually listen to them, they are communicating in their body language or what they are saying that they think something is wrong with them. Just like pretty much every member of this group. One of the prime reasons for social skills deficiencies is an inability to communicate difficulty, and it comes out in the emotional intensity of friendly interactions, which drives people away."

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The Boy Scouts of America forbids its chapters from pursuing "any objectives related to political or social advocacy, including partisan politics."

As a result, many parents, volunteers, and former scouts were outraged when President Donald Trump took the stage at the organization's annual jamboree on July 24 and turned the nationwide gathering into a campaign rally.

In a characteristically free-form address, the president cursed, encouraged attendees to boo former President Barack Obama, and alluded to sexual activity that took place at a cocktail party he attended in the 1980s.

Photo by Saul Loeb/Getty Images.

Not long after video of the event went viral, hundreds of alumni and relatives of current scouts posted their reactions to the organization's Facebook page.

The responses were overwhelmingly frustrated, angry, and mournful.

Some noted that by condoning Trump's furiously partisan speech, the Scouts were implicitly supporting the goals of the Republican party, in a violation of the organization's charter.

All comment images from Boy Scouts of America/Facebook.

Others argued that the speech — and its speaker — conflicted with the stated values of the organization...

...while many were simply saddened that the organization's leaders would permit such a violation of what they believe to be the core Scout ethos.

The Boy Scouts of America released a statement the following morning that reaffirmed the group's nonpartisan character, though it remained quiet on Trump's conduct.

"The invitation for the sitting U.S. president to address the national jamboree is a long-standing tradition and is in no way an endorsement of any political party or specific policies," the statement read.

This is not the first time the Boy Scouts have found themselves at the center of a political struggle.

For decades, the Scout bylaws held that, "homosexual conduct," is "inconsistent with the obligations in the Scout Oath," and openly gay children were banned from participating. The ban was ultimately removed in 2013 after years of mounting public backlash, though openly gay adults can still be prohibited from being scout leaders.

Photo by George Frey/Getty Images.

The controversy flared again when a transgender scout was kicked out of a Cub Scout pack in New Jersey in December 2016.

Transgender scouts were officially permitted the following January.

But a sitting president involving the 117-year-old organization with party politics is new — and unsettling.

Trump's speech broke with eight decades of precedent, upheld by presidents from both parties, of using the speech to speak broadly about citizenship and service in a nonpartisan fashion.

In response, alumni, parents, and commentators from across the political spectrum are taking notice — and asking the Boy Scouts of America to stand up for their stated values.

— (@)

Whether they find the loyalty, courtesy, and bravery to do so remains to be seen.

Clarification 7/25/2017: This post was updated to clarify that while the Boy Scouts of America does not prohibit openly gay troop leaders, it does allow for individual charters to do so.
Updated 7/27/2017: This post was updated to clarify that groups of Cub Scouts are "packs," not "troops."

Five days after Americans celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Jr., Donald Trump will be inaugurated as our 45th president.

It's been nearly 50 years since King was assassinated for his role as a leader in the fight for civil rights and racial equality. As we enter this new era — one in which, for many, it feels like King's dream of America is far out of reach — it's more important than ever to reflect on what King truly stood for.

Here are 27 quotes from the man himself that show us his actual ideal vision of America — and how far we still have to go before we get there.

Martin Luther King Jr. during the March on Washington, D.C. Photo by AFP/Getty Images.

1. King reminded us to stand up and speak out against the injustices we see in our world.

"To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor," King wrote in his essay "Three Ways of Meeting Oppression."

"Noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. ... To accept injustice or segregation passively is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right."

2. It's better to be frustrated with an unjust world than to just accept it.

In his sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood, King said, "There are some things in our nation to which I’m proud to be maladjusted, to which I call upon all men of goodwill to be maladjusted until the good society is realized. ... I never intend to adjust myself to segregation and discrimination. I never intend to become adjusted to religious bigotry. I never intend to adjust myself to economic conditions that will take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few. I never intend to adjust myself to the madness of militarism and the self-defeating effects of physical violence."

3. Just because something is legal, that doesn't make it right, and not everything that is illegal is wrong.

"One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws," King said in "Letter From a Birmingham Jail."

4. How do you tell the difference between right and wrong? It's easy.

King explained this simply, again in "Letter From a Birmingham Jail": "Any law that uplifts the human personality is just. Any law that degrades human personality is unjust."

He expanded on this idea in his "Rediscovering Lost Values" sermon: "Some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It's wrong to hate. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong. It's wrong in America, it's wrong in Germany, it's wrong in Russia, it's wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it's wrong in 1954 A.D. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong."

5. Everyone deserves access to health care.

"Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane," King said at the Second National Convention of the Medical Committee for Human Rights in 1966.

6. Everyone also deserves to earn a living wage, have a safe work environment, and not be exploited by their bosses.

"The labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it," King said in a 1961 address to the AFL-CIO, "by raising the living standards of millions, labor miraculously created a market for industry and lifted the whole nation to undreamed-of levels of production. Those who attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them."

7. King believed every person has a right to food and shelter.

"Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life?" King said in his 1964 Nobel lecture, "The Quest for Peace and Justice."

8. King wanted people to know there are fair ways to distribute wealth within the framework of democracy.

"You can use your powerful economic resources to wipe poverty from the face of the Earth," King said in "Paul's Letter to American Christians."

"God never intended for one group of people to live in superfluous inordinate wealth while others live in abject deadening poverty. God intends for all of his children to have the basic necessities of life, and He has left in this universe 'enough and to spare' for that purpose. So I call upon you to bridge the gulf between abject poverty and superfluous wealth."

9. Money is not a measurement of virtue, righteousness, or meaning.

"I am afraid that many among you are more concerned about making a living than making a life," King also said in "Paul's Letter to American Christians."

10. People have a right to vote. Period.

"All types of conniving methods are still being used to prevent Negroes from becoming registered voters. The denial of this sacred right is a tragic betrayal of the highest mandates of our democratic tradition," King said in his "Give Us the Ballot" speech — and it's still true.

"... Give us the ballot, and we will no longer have to worry the federal government about our basic rights."

11. From employment to marriage to education to health care and beyond, civil and social rights matter for all people.

"If America is to remain a first-class nation, it cannot have second-class citizens," King preached in "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness."

12. We can't pass laws to make people get along with or accept people, but we can and should pass laws to protect the oppressed from harm.

(Lookin' at you, HB2 and First Amendment Defense Act.)

"It may be true that morality can't be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also,"King said in a 1966 speech at Southern Methodist University.

13. The most morally bankrupt people are the ones concerned more about getting caught than about doing something wrong in the first place.

"In a sense, we are no longer concerned about the Ten Commandments. ... Everybody is busy, as I have said so often, trying to obey the eleventh commandment: 'Thou shalt not get caught,'" King said in "Keep Moving From This Mountain."

14. King understood the U.S. is not a Christian nation.

Yes, he was a minister, but King was also a firm believer in separation of church and state.

"I endorse it [the Supreme Court's decision to outlaw prayer in school]," King explained in a 1965 interview with Playboy. "I think it was correct. Contrary to what many have said, it sought to outlaw neither prayer nor belief in God. In a pluralistic society such as ours, who is to determine what prayer shall be spoken and by whom? Legally, constitutionally or otherwise, the state certainly has no such right."

15. King also wanted people to know religion is no excuse for scientific ignorance.

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary," he wrote in his book "Strength to Love."

"Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism."

16. King was pro-choice and valued the many good things Planned Parenthood contributes to the world.

"Family planning, to relate population to world resources, is possible, practical, and necessary," he said in his acceptance speech for the Margaret Sanger Award from Planned Parenthood.

17. King spoke passionately about our economic struggles being largely the same, regardless of skin color.

"All too often when there is mass unemployment in the black community, it's referred to as a social problem, and when there is mass unemployment in the white community, it's referred to as a depression. But there is no basic difference," he said in his "Other America" speech from 1968.

"Most of the poverty stricken people of America," he said later in the speech, "are persons who are working every day, and they end up getting part-time wages for full-time work. ... This has caused a great deal of bitterness. It has caused a great deal of agony. It has caused ache and anguish. It has caused great despair, and we have seen the angered expressions of this despair and this bitterness in the violent rebellions that have taken place in cities all over our country."

18. This is why King believed that white laborers and black civil rights activists should work together toward their shared goals.

"Our needs are identical with labor's needs: decent wages, fair working conditions, livable housing, old-age security, health, and welfare measures, conditions in which families can grow, have education for their children and respect in the community," he said in a speech to the AFL-CIO.

19. Protests and riots aren't a problem. They're symptoms of bigger, systemic issues.

"A riot is the language of the unheard," King said in "The Other America." "And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity."

20. There's never a correct "time" or "way" to achieve justice and change.

"I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was 'well timed' in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation," King said in "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." "For years now I have heard the word 'wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has almost always meant 'never.' We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that 'justice too long delayed is justice denied.'"

21. Michelle Obama may have perfected the catchphrase "When they go low, we go high," but it was central to King's beliefs as well.

"We must not seek to defeat or humiliate the enemy but to win his friendship and understanding," he said in "Loving Your Enemies," urging us all to resist our natural instincts toward pettiness and spite. "At times we are able to humiliate our worst enemy. Inevitably, his weak moments come and we are able to thrust in his side the spear of defeat. But this we must not do. Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate."

22. Everyone deserves empathy and compassion.

From "Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break the Silence":

23. Although he was committed to nonviolence, King also made it clear: You cannot be moderate in the face of oppression and hate.

"The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be," King said in "Letter From a Birmingham Jail." "Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?"

24. King warned of the dangers of giving power to thin-skinned egomaniacs, too.

"The individual who is self-centered, the individual who is egocentric ends up being very sensitive, a very touchy person," King said in "Conquering Self-Centeredness." "And that is one of the tragic effects of a self-centered attitude, that it leads to a very sensitive and touchy response toward the universe. These are the people you have to handle with kid gloves because they are touchy, they are sensitive. And they are sensitive because they are self-centered. They are too absorbed in self and anything gets them off, anything makes them angry."

25. The U.S. president should be held to a higher standard of diplomacy, humility, and temperament.

As he said in his Emancipation Proclamation Centennial Address, "No president can be great, or even fit for office, if he attempts to accommodate to injustice to maintain his political balance."

26. A society is built up by people working together.

"No matter where you stand, no matter how much popularity you have, no matter how much education you have, no matter how much money you have, you have it because in this universe helped you to get it," King said in his speech about self-centeredness.

"And when you see that, you can't be arrogant, you can't be supercilious. You discover that you have your position because of the events of history and because of individuals in the background making it possible for you to stand there."

27. "All we say to America is, 'Be true to what you said on paper.'"

As King said in "I’ve Been to the Mountaintop":

It's more important than ever that we honor King's legacy.

Maybe if we start to hold ourselves to that higher standard he believed in, we can finally turn his dreams into reality and make a better America for everyone.

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Ahead of President Obama's final speech, a look back at some important lessons.

On Sunday, Jan. 10, President Barack Obama will travel to Chicago to deliver his farewell address to the nation.

The farewell address is a tradition dating all the way back to George Washington himself. The address has historically provided outgoing presidents with an opportunity to publicly reflect on their successes and failures, as well as to share a bit of unique wisdom with both their successor and with the general public as a whole.

"Since 2009, we've faced our fair share of challenges, and come through them stronger," wrote President Obama on the White House website. "That's because we have never let go of a belief that has guided us ever since our founding — our conviction that, together, we can change this country for the better."

— (@)

One of the most interesting aspects of the farewell address is how, as a concept, it's such a contradiction in terms of the president's power and influence.

Usually delivered just days before a successor is set to take office, the farewell address comes at what is arguably the low point in any president's administration in terms of actual policy influence — and yet, these addresses have typically been imbued with such candidness that they become powerful in a whole new way.

Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images.

1. George W. Bush shared a message of compassion and understanding for immigrants.

"In the face of threats from abroad, it can be tempting to seek comfort by turning inward. But we must reject isolationism and its companion, protectionism. Retreating behind our borders would only invite danger," Bush warned.

While much of President Bush's speech focused heavily on the importance of national defense and vigilance about preventing future terrorist attacks, at one point during the address, he focused on the very concept of what it means to be American:

Photo by Rod Aydelotte/Waco Tribune Herald, Pool.

2. Bill Clinton urged future generations to embrace equality "in our hearts and in our laws."

"As we become ever more diverse, we must work harder to unite around our common values and our common humanity," implored Clinton in his speech.

During his administration, President Clinton's record on equality was somewhat mixed. As the president who signed both the Defense of Marriage Act (which preemptively blocked same-sex marriages) and the military's Don't Ask, Don't Tell policy (which prohibited gays, lesbians, and bisexuals from serving openly in the armed forces) into law, his farewell address hinted at a bit of regret when it came to social equity:

Photo by AFP/AFP/Getty Images.

3. Ronald Reagan used his address to remind the country why city walls must have doors that are open to everyone.

"I've spoken of the shining city all my political life, but I don't know if I ever quite communicated what I saw when I said it," Reagan said in his speech. "In my mind it was a tall, proud city built on rocks stronger than oceans, windswept, God-blessed, and teeming with people of all kinds living in harmony and peace; a city with free ports that hummed with commerce and creativity."

"And if there had to be city walls," he said, "the walls had doors and the doors were open to anyone with the will and the heart to get here. That's how I saw it, and see it still."

Reagan's address mostly centered on his successes in office, focusing on economic gains and the U.S.'s role in ending the Cold War, but also included a word of advice for when the going gets tough or problems seem overwhelming

Photo by J. David Ake/AFP/Getty Images.

4. Jimmy Carter played up the importance of defending the human rights of all people in the success of America.

"Those who hunger for freedom, who thirst for human dignity, and who suffer for the sake of justice, they are the patriots of this cause," said Carter during his address.

His anti-isolationist message touched on the U.S.'s role in ensuring that people around the world are treated with dignity, respect, and basic human rights. Carter urged Americans to be a force for good in the world, extending far beyond geographic borders.

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

5. George Washington warned us of the dangers of partisanship, a message that remains incredibly relevant.

"I have already intimated to you the danger of parties in the State, with particular reference to the founding of them on geographical discriminations," wrote Washington. "Let me now take a more comprehensive view, and warn you in the most solemn manner against the baneful effects of the spirit of party generally."

Despite having been delivered more than 220 years ago, Washington's address is perhaps the most prescient for 2017 and beyond. Political parties can serve as coalitions for individuals with similar goals. As President Washington warned, however, they can also lead to despotism. Now, in 2017, as the country's 45th president is about to be inaugurated, it seems our attachment to these political parties has done just that: empowered a despot.

Photo by Hulton Archive/Getty Images.

Party allegiances today have even chipped away at the very concept of facts. Should a Democrat say the sky is blue, expect that a Republican will be there to dispute the assertion, and vice versa. It often feels as though the parties are no longer working toward common interests and solutions, but rather, a very dangerous game of one-upmanship, the most obvious example being the rush for Congress and the PEOTUS to repeal President Obama's landmark health care bill, which could boot up to 30 million people off their health insurance.

President Washington warned us. It's not too late to listen to what he — and our other past presidents — had to say.

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Bill O'Reilly: 'Slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government.'

While there were many outstanding lines from Michelle Obama's speech at the Democratic National Convention, one line in particular stood out.

"I wake up every morning, in a house that was built by slaves," the first lady told the audience.

GIF from the 2016 Democratic National Convention.

The statement was a powerful reminder that our country's very foundation rests on exploited labor and racial injustice, and it was a testament to our progress as a nation and the historic nature of her husband's own presidency. It was a powerful moment.

It's a line she's used before. For example, here's an excerpt from her commencement speech this June at City College of New York:

"Graduates, it’s the story that I witness every single day when I wake up in a house that was built by slaves, and I watch my daughters — two beautiful, black young women —head off to school — (applause) — waving goodbye to their father, the President of the United States, the son of a man from Kenya who came here to American — to America for the same reasons as many of you: To get an education and improve his prospects in life."

Not everyone was happy about her statement, however, and perhaps the most notable dissent came from Bill O'Reilly of Fox News.

During the July 26 edition of "The O'Reilly Factor," the pundit tried to make a few clarifications to Michelle Obama's words.

On his show, O'Reilly said he believes it's important to note that the White House was not built solely using slave labor (though Mrs. Obama never claimed that to be the case — what she did say, however, is true). Additionally, he implied that the use of slave labor was OK because "slaves that worked there were well-fed and had decent lodgings provided by the government."

Photo by Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for Hollywood Reporter.

Broadway legend Audra McDonald took to Twitter to give O'Reilly a history lesson on what those "decent lodgings" looked like.

Warning: Tweets include graphic imagery.

— (@)

What message should we take from all this? It's pretty simple: There are countless things we can argue as being "liberal" versus "conservative," but maybe the question of "Was slavery really all that bad?" doesn't need to be one of them.

It's 2016. It's OK to look back at history and admit there were certain things the country's founders did that were morally reprehensible — slavery being one of them.

That line in Michelle Obama’s speech was about progress and the need to acknowledge — and not erase or excuse — the painful parts of history that force us to grow as a country. To bring up the past and remind ourselves that the White House was built using slave labor is not divisive. It’s what helps us build a better future.

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Teacher asks for 'funny' captions under slavery photos - Upworthy ›