Fox News host Brian Kilmeade has walked back his recent comments about homeless people who are experiencing mental health issues.
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During the Fox and Friends airing on Wednesday, Kilmeade floated the idea that mentally ill homeless people should be executed if they refuse treatment. He made the comment while discussing the shocking death of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska on a train in Charlotte, North Carolina.
After the suspect of Zarutska’s death was arrested, it was revealed that the man was previously diagnosed with schizophrenia. His mother also stated that she had tried to get him involuntarily committed earlier this year after he became violent at home.
As the Fox and Friends co-hosts discussed the situation, Lawrence Jones stated that those homeless people who refuse mental health treatment should be “locked up.”
To which Kilmeade replied, “Or involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill ’em.”
Appearing unfazed by the remark, the Fox and Friends co-hosts continued their discussion, with Ainsley Earhardt asking, “Yeah, Brian, why did it have to get to this point?”
He answered, “I will say this, we’re not voting for the right people.”
The clip of the conversation didn’t make its rounds until the weekend, which led to social media users demanding the Fox News host’s firing.
The Fox News Host Posts Apology About the Remark on Social Media
Days after making the comment, the Fox News host took to social media to apologize for the remark.
“We were discussing the murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte 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 explained.
Kilmeade then said, “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 apology didn’t sit very well with social media, with some users immediately calling Kilmeade out.
“It’s not callous to suggest murdering homeless people to solve homelessness, it’s craven. Resign,” one X user wrote.
Another X stated, “Resign. There’s no way that remark was an accident. Nobody accidentally wants to murder large groups of people. You premeditated that garbage. Resign.”
Meanwhile, an X user wrote that Kilmeade would be fired if he worked at a “place of integrity,” slamming the host’s employer, Fox News.
“Fox News is the opposite,” they pointed out. “At Fox News, people get fired for the mistake of doing great work. Remember, they fired the guys responsible for the correct early projection of Arizona for Biden, days before anyone else.”