Fox’s Kilmeade sorry for ‘just kill’ homeless remark

Kilmeade apologized for his ‘extremely callous remark’

(Image credit: Noam Galai / Getty Images)

published 15 September 2025

What happened

Fox News morning host Brian Kilmeade yesterday read an on-air statement apologizing for saying on Wednesday’s “Fox & Friends” that mentally ill homeless people should be killed. His comment, which drew mounting criticism after spreading online, came hours before the murder of Charlie Kirk sparked nationwide condemnation of calls for political violence and demands from Kirk’s conservative allies to fire people who make light of his death.

Who said what

Kilmeade made his comment during a discussion about what to do with homeless people who rejected government intervention, after a conversation about a mentally ill man in North Carolina who fatally stabbed Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska. His co-host Lawrence Jones suggested that homeless people needed to be “locked up in jail” if they refused mental health care. “Or, involuntary lethal injection — or something,” Kilmeade said. “Just kill ’em.”

Kilmeade yesterday apologized for his “extremely callous remark.” He said he was “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 “rare on-air apology” also served as Fox News’ response to the controversy, The Washington Post said, citing network spokespeople.

What next?

Kilmeade’s continued employment at Fox News stood “in sharp contrast” with the sacking of commentators “deemed to have made offensive comments about Kirk’s death,” notably MSNBC analyst Matthew Dowd, said The Guardian. The GOP warning to mourn Kirk “respectfully or suffer the consequences” has already led to at least 15 people losing their jobs or being suspended, Reuters said, and the “campaign to fire Kirk’s critics has not slowed.”

The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

https://cdn.mos.cms.futurecdn.net/flexiimages/jacafc5zvs1692883516.jpg

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.