Williams appeared on Bill O'Reilly's show earlier this week to discuss O'Reilly's appearance on "The View" last week, during which Whoopi Goldberg and Joy Behar walked off of the set when O'Reilly said, "Muslims killed us on 9/11."
On "The O'Reilly Factor," Williams said that "too much political correctness can get in the way of reality." He went on to say that he gets nervous when he sees people in Muslim garb on an airplane since 9/11.
NPR CEO Vivian Schiller said that controversial opinions should not come from NPR reporters or news analysts, and that whatever feelings Williams has about Muslims should be between him and "his psychiatrist or his publicist." Schiller also said Williams had veered from journalistic ethics several times before Monday's comments.
This has conservatives fired up. They are calling for NPR's government funding to be cut off.
"The U.S. Congress should investigate NPR and consider cutting off their money," former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said. "Every listener to NPR should be enraged that there's this kind of bias against an American."
"NPR defends 1st Amendment Right, but will fire u if u exercise it. Juan Williams: u got taste of Left's hypocrisy,they screwed up firing you," former Alaska governor Sarah Palin tweeted.
"Since NPR is funded with public funds, it is a form of censorship," said former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee. "It is time for the taxpayers to start making cuts to federal spending, and I encourage the new Congress to start with NPR."
Even Whoopi Goldberg isn't happy with the firing. She's calling for NPR to rehire Williams.
