Brian Kilmeade of FOX News Apologizes for Promoting the Killing of Homeless and Mentally Disabled People

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On Wednesday September 10, FOX News host Brian Kilmeade casually suggested killing homeless and mentally ill people for existing. The remarks came on the same day as the murder of Right-Wing firebrand Charlie Kirk, who was gunned down at a Utah university. At the time, Kilmeade did not move to clarify his statement. It also did not appear to be a joke. Since then, social media has exploded, with some calling for his job, leading him to walk back his statement.

The Reaction

In this clip from FOX News’ Fox and Friends, two male reporters and one female reporter sit awkwardly on a couch, while discussing homeless and mentally ill people. The discussion centered around the murder of Ukrainian immigrant Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed to death on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina, by a suspected homeless man on August 22.

This is disgusting, inhumane, and reprehensible behavior…

“We have given billions of dollars to the mental health and the homeless population. A lot of them don’t wanna take the programs. A lot of them don’t want to get the help that is necessary. Ya can’t give them a choice. Either you take the resources we’re going to give you, or you decide that you’re going to be locked up in jail,” Laurence Jones, cohost of Fox and Friends, said.

“Or involuntary lethal injection,” Brian Kilmeade responded. “Or something like that. Just kill them.” He got a “Yeah” in reply from his cohost. The casual call for the murder of over 700,000 people, including women and children, struck a nerve on social media.

“If you can fire Matthew Dowd for telling the truth, you can fire Brian Kilmeade,” user @daviddunn177 wrote on X.com.

“Yesterday morning, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade suggested the solution to homelessness in America is involuntary lethal injection. This is disgusting, inhumane, and reprehensible behavior,” Protect Kamala Harris wrote on X.

Major news outlets picked up the story, and Kilmeade decided it was time to take back what he had said.

The Apology

According to the LATimes.com, Brian Kilmeade has issued an apology for his “callous remarks.”

“I apologize for that extremely callous remark,” Kilmeade said during Sunday’s morning program of the show. “I am obviously aware that not all mentally ill, homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion.”

Kilmeade’s comments sparked memories of extermination of the mentally ill and disabled under Adolf Hitler rule…

Still, a number of online commentators pointed out that Kilmeade’s comments sparked memories of extermination of the mentally ill and disabled under Adolf Hitler’s rule in 1930s Germany. The LATimes has reported, “The German chancellor’s euthanasia program killed more than 250,000 people ahead of the Holocaust.”

If the apology will be enough, only time will tell. Political Analyst Matthew Dowd lost his contributor role at MSNBC for pointing out the hate rhetoric espoused by Charlie Kirk, even though he apologized for his true statements. Even so, the rules on the Left and Right concerning political decorum seem to have two distinctly different bars, with the Left more likely to face consequences for poorly received comments.

The Takeaway

Brian Kilmeade of FOX News openly and without empathy promoted executing the homeless and mentally ill on FOX and Friends. His statements caused a firestorm of disagreement across social media. Although he did not immediately apologize for his gross misstatement, he did eventually apologize on air. If this will be enough is unclear, considering commentators have gotten canned for less within the same timeframe. However, the standards of political decorum seem to be higher on the Left than the Right.

FOLLOW the author Jermaine Reed, MFA on X @ Jermaine Reed, MFA for his controversial but real hot takes.