Fox News host Brian Kilmeade issued a brief on-air apology after he said that homeless people suffering from mental health issues should be euthanized.
Kilmeade called his comments “extremely callous.”
The co-host of Fox & Friends, the network’s flagship morning show, remarked on September 10. On Saturday, a clip of his comments resurfaced on social media, setting off a firestorm of outrage.
The remark was made in a discussion about the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska, who was stabbed to death on a light rail train in North Carolina by a homeless man with schizophrenia and an extensive criminal history.
On Sunday morning, Kilmeade said his piece to the camera, again prompted by his co-host Lawrence Jones: “Yeah, and it actually happened when we were together on Wednesday, Lawrence. In the morning, we were discussing the murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, and how to stop these kinds of attacks by homeless, mentally ill assailants, including institutionalizing or jailing such people so they cannot attack again.”
He continued: “Now, during that discussion, I wrongly said they should get lethal injections. I apologize for that extremely callous remark. 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.”
The viral clip begins with Jones decriing the fact that billions of dollars had been spent on mental health and the homeless, with supposedly little impact. He then advocated for removing any element of choice from participating in programs to help such people, or they would face jail.
Kilmeade then said: “Or involuntary lethal injection… or something. Just kill ‘em.”
Former Republican Rep. Adam Kinzinger tweeted: “Jesus would be spending his time with these exact people you are suggesting be killed by the government. And condemning you.”
Governor of California Gavin Newsom chose Proverbs 21:13 as his response: “Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered.”
According to the National Coalition for Homeless Veterans, around 20 percent of the male homeless population in the U.S. are military veterans.
Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia tweeted: “America’s homeless population includes over a million children and tens of thousands of veterans, many of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan.”
“Nobody deserves to be murdered by the government for mental illness or poverty. These Fox hosts are calling for mass murder—it’s sick.”
Meanwhile, author Shannon Watts posted: “[Brian Kilmeade] is advocating for extrajudicial killings on FOX, yet Matthew Dowd was fired by MSNBC [for] pointing out Charlie Kirk’s dangerous rhetoric. This moral asymmetry in the media and online is destroying democracy.”
