Back at Work Like Nothing Happened
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Fox News host Brian Kilmeade was back on Fox Friends on Monday after calling for mentally ill homeless people to be killed.
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Here the take on Brian Kilmeade.
There was a time in this country when the stated goal was to fight a war on poverty. Now, it seems, the war is on the poor themselves. The rhetoric has moved from neglect to outright hostility, and the logical, horrifying endpoint of that hostility was broadcast live on the nation’s top-rated cable news network.
Fox News host Brian Kilmeade, sitting comfortably on the Fox & Friends couch, suggested using "involuntary lethal injection" to deal with homeless individuals suffering from mental illness.
Let that sink in. A host on national television called for the state-sanctioned execution of the mentally ill and homeless. He said, on the air, "Just kill them." And he still has a job.
Of course, after the backlash, Kilmeade issued a tepid apology that Fox News dutifully pushed out. The corporate damage control machine kicked into gear, not because of a crisis of conscience, but because of a crisis of public relations. Their goal wasn't to reckon with the horrifying statement their host made, but to save the guy who made it.
If a person is comfortable calling for the murder of human beings on live television, can you even imagine what they say off-air?
We talk about cable news radicalizing the public, but here is the evidence of a radicalized person sitting on the studio couch, calmly calling for the mass execution of a vulnerable population. This isn't a slip of the tongue; it's the quiet part said out loud.
The hypocrisy at Fox News is staggering. Tucker Carlson was reportedly fired, in part, for a private text message he sent. As vile as his words may have been, they were not broadcast to millions. Brian Kilmeade called for killing people on the air, and he remains. Numerous figures at the network were let go for their awful treatment of women. While they were rightfully fired, not one of them used their platform to advocate for murdering the mentally ill.
This is not an isolated incident for Kilmeade. This is a man who has built a career on a foundation of insulting and dehumanizing rhetoric.
He claimed Swedish people have "pure genes" because they don't "marry everybody," including "other species" like Americans do.
He once asked a Black colleague if she serves Kool-Aid with her cobbler.
When discussing personal space for women, he wondered, “Didn't men give you the kitchen?”
Time and again, he has shown a stunning lack of decency and respect for others. Yet, suggesting mass murder was not the line. For Fox News, there appears to be no line.
This much is clear: Brian Kilmeade has repeatedly demonstrated his contempt for humanity. And by keeping him on their airwaves, Fox News has demonstrated that they simply do not care.
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