Brian Kilmeade, coincidentally in contention for his own Fox News show, attacked Mitch McConnell for supporting Trump’s impeachment, with a phony-baloney show of concern for unity, after years of inflammatory and divisive rhetoric of his own.
Media Matters caught Kilmeade’s whine this morning, during his current gig as Fox & Friend cohost:
KILMEADE: [Impeachment] further divides the country, not brings the country together. There are a lot of people disappointed in the election results that had nothing to do with storming the Capitol, never went to Washington, never believed that the election was a fraud, but is disappointed the president lost. How about to the tune of 75 million? Why not use this as an opportunity to define your party, Mitch McConnell, as well as unite your party, Mitch McConnell, rather than divide ‘em?
Kilmeade played a clip from Fox contributor Jason Chaffetz saying he was “a little bit frustrated” with Trump’s behavior last week but that it didn’t rise to the level of impeachment. This, from the guy who relentlessly investigated Hillary Clinton’s role in Benghazi (where fewer Americans died than as a result of the Capitol insurrection) only to see that big “scandal” completely fizzle.
Chaffetz, too, pretended to care about unity as he complained that impeachment will “further divide the country and I just think it is wrong.”
"Since Biden’s theme is “America united,” Kilmeade added, “this will be his first big test. Kilmeade forgot to mention that America is uniting against Trump.
KILMEADE: Censure, Kevin McCarthy brought up, that would be fine. Nobody approves of saying, “Go march to the Capitol.” Nobody thinks, I don’t believe, that the president said, “Breach the security, go inside, dressed as a Viking, create havoc on the inside, and dramatic situations.” Nobody approves that and I think very few people think the president wanted that to happened.
Actually, even in his statement today, Trump did not express disapproval of last week’s violence. Yesterday, he expressed no contrition for his own comments, calling them “totally appropriate.”
But it’s laughable for Kilmeade to suddenly care about unity. Media Matters lists multiple examples of Kilmeade supporting far-right militants and castigating Democratic officials for condemning them. Here are the first two:
In October of last year, Kilmeade defended the armed militants who broke into the Oregon state Capitol in a violent demonstration against coronavirus-related economic restrictions and sprayed state police with “some kind of chemical agent” while participants chanted for the arrest of Democratic Gov. Kate Brown. “You know what's different about these riots in Oregon as opposed to Seattle riots?” Kilmeade asked rhetorically. “They're not against America. [These people] want to work in America. They want to live the American Dream, and I would imagine they were living it until they were stopped by a pandemic from China.”
Kilmeade also commented in the wake of arrests of far-right militants who had allegedly planned to kidnap Gov. Gretchen Whitmer (D-MI), accusing her of not being “grateful” to the Department of Justice, but instead being “focused on the president” in her ongoing criticisms of Trump’s own rhetoric inflaming the situation in Michigan over the state’s anti-coronavirus measures. (In the days since the January 6 insurrection, Whitmer has commented on the progression from events in Michigan last year to the pro-Trump invasion of the Capitol last week.)
Those would have been perfect occasions for Kilmeade to have taken a stand for national unity. But it seems he only does so when it benefits his own politics.
And maybe his pocketbook, too. Kilmeade has been named as the first auditioner to host Fox’s upcoming “Fox News Primetime” show, set to replace The Story with Martha MacCallum at 7 PM ET next week, just in time for Joe Biden’s inauguration.
You can watch Kilmeade’s hypocrisy below, from the January 13, 2021 Fox & Friends, via Media Matters.