It wasn’t just Steve Doocy suggesting Donald Trump is responsible for the violent MAGA insurrection yesterday. Cohost Brian Kilmeade ripped Trump much harder on Fox & Friends this morning.
In my last post, I noted how cohost Doocy delicately suggested Trump was responsible for the armed assault on the Capitol yesterday. Doocy asked MAGA apologist Pete Hegseth, “Were they there simply to support Donald Trump on the way out or were they there to actually overturn the election because they had been told, through Donald Trump and others, that Mike Pence could actually do that?”
It turns out Kilmeade had even stronger words about Trump. And, since they know Trump is a devoted fan, Kilmeade’s words were directed at him, too:
KILMEADE: Since November 3rd, when we got the verdict by November 5th, the president’s behavior has been terrible. It has cost him two Senate seats, we know that for sure. It cost his party the majority in the Senate, we know that for certain.
We also could say this about the president of the United States. He honestly believes to every fiber of his being that he actually won this election. The problem is, his legal team has not had any success at all proving that …
[In Trump's speech to the MAGA crowd yesterday] he said, “March over there [to the Capitol] at 1:30.” Now it’s true, his people do not have a track record of violence, absolutely true. Well, that track record broke and even if it was infiltrated by people that don’t like him, it doesn’t matter. When you send 50, 60, 70, 80,000 people into the Capitol, which is guarded by a handful of cops and 350 National Guard, guess what? They’re gonna get in.
And once again – we didn’t have video in 1814 but it looks a lot worse but it made more sense. You know why? Because in 1814, we had an enemy and it was the British. These are Americans attacking, with their faces apparent and transparent while they stay in the speaker’s office. That clown should be arrested now, hopefully. And to put up a Trump flag and take down the American flag is not patriotic, one of the worst things I’ve ever seen.
And when you’ve lost Lindsey Graham … when you lose all these people, when Tom Cotton says it’s time for you to concede, I think that you’ve gone over the top. And I think when the president made those remarks, he couldn’t even use his own Twitter account, he had to use Dan Scavino’s because he’s been justifiably suspended by the last 24 hours.
But before anyone might think that Kilmeade was really about unity, he made sure to gratuitously attack Trump’s critics and the left as he drew a false equivalence between the MAGA insurrection and the Black Lives Matter protests. But there was a surprising nod to Joe Biden at the end:
KILMEADE: And lastly, and I know we’ll be talking for three hours, for those people that are condemning this violence, I ask you, where are you for 200+ days in Portland. Where were you in Oregon, it’s still existing, as the CHOP zone took root. Where were you in New York City when you said, hey, people have to blow off steam, as well as Illinois and countless other places. Don’t suddenly become law and order although I thought Joe Biden’s comments were perfect and have been very strong since he won the election.
When I saw Doocy’s comment, I wasn’t sure if he was expressing official Fox dogma. But there’s no way Kilmeade would ever speak so harshly about Trump or his supporters without the backing, if not the explicit direction, of Fox.
So, is Fox turning on Trump? I'd call this more of a shot over the bow to tell Trump to shut up about the election, accept his loss and move on. But stay tuned!
Meanwhile, you can watch Kilmeade blast Trump and the MAGA insurrection below, from the January 7, 2021 Fox & Friends.
Brian Kilmeade compares Trump supporters' attack on the Capitol to the British Army burning Washington in 1814 (also Black Lives Matter.) Kilmeade demands arrests, calls the Trump flag raising "one of the worst things I've ever seen," and defends Trump's suspension from Twitter. pic.twitter.com/wOZuEEdbab
— Bobby Lewis (@revrrlewis) January 7, 2021
Donald Trump’s behavior has been terrible during all his mandate, and before his mandate. I’m sure he behaved terribly since conception.
This is not to say that O’Reilly is that influential – but guys like Kilmeade and Beck look to O’Reilly when they’re searching for some way to behave as if they have a moral position on these matters.