During Friday morning’s episode of Fox and Friends, the hosts erupted in frustration over the Drudge Report’s coverage of Donald Trump’s violent rhetoric against fellow Republican Liz Chaney with a bold headline on its homepage reading “Trump calls for Cheney’s execution.”
The contentious remarks came after Trump, speaking at an event with former Fox host Tucker Carlson, criticized Cheney as a “radical war hawk.”
In his comments, Trump recklessly suggested that Cheney should stand in front of “a nine-barrel shooting at her.” His comments ignited a backlash from the Harris campaign and various commentators.
“Let’s put her with a rifle standing there with nine-barrel shooting at her, OK. Let’s see how she feels about it, you know, when the guns are trained on her face,” Trump said during the campaign event in Arizona.
Despite the criticism, co-host Brian Kilmeade defended Trump, he “totally gets the context” of Trump’s remarks.
fellow co-host Lawrence Jones added: “There’s a ton of Americans that support this point of view. I do think that is ironic right now when the Democratic Party is dealing with all these comments from the surrogates that they’re trying to grasp for something from the former president to say he’s calling for the assassination of Liz Cheney, I don’t think anyone really believes that.”
Kilmeade took particular issue with the Drudge Report’s framing, labeling it “totally irresponsible.” He expressed disbelief that the remarks were being interpreted as a call for violence, explaining that he initially dismissed the soundbite as “a waste of time,” not anticipating the media reaction it would provoke.
The Trump campaign also pushed back against the narrative, stating that the media had misrepresented his comments. “The press has been disgracefully covering these remarks, saying that President Trump suggested Liz Cheney should be put in front of a ‘firing squad.’ Are these reporters malicious or dumb? President Trump was clearly describing a combat zone,” the campaign’s statement read.
Despite the contentious atmosphere, Fox News remains the leading cable news channel, with numerous hosts who frequently defend Trump amid his complex relationship with the network’s founder, Rupert Murdoch. Just weeks ago, Trump had expressed his intent to appeal directly to Murdoch regarding negative advertisements aired about him.
Kilmeade’s comments were first highlighted by Mediaite.
