Fox News host Brian Kilmeade suggested using "involuntary lethal injection" to kill homeless people with mental illness during a September 10, 2025 segment of "Fox & Friends"[^1]. The comments came during a discussion about the murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska by a homeless person with schizophrenia in North Carolina[^2].
After co-host Lawrence Jones argued that homeless people should be forced to accept help or face jail time, Kilmeade interjected: "Or involuntary lethal injection... or something. Just kill 'em"[^3]. His co-hosts briefly acknowledged the comment before continuing their discussion[^4].
The remarks sparked widespread condemnation. Rep. Don Beyer of Virginia tweeted: "America's homeless population includes over a million children and tens of thousands of veterans, many of whom served in Iraq or Afghanistan. Nobody deserves to be murdered by the government for mental illness or poverty"[^1].
California Governor Gavin Newsom responded by quoting Proverbs 21:13: "Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor will himself call out and not be answered"[^3].
[^2]: Rolling Stone - Fox Host Says to 'Just Kill 'Em' While Discussing Homeless People Who Decline Help
[^3]: HuffPost - 'Just Kill 'Em': Fox Host Makes Shocking Comment On Homeless People
[^4]: Media Matters - Fox News host on mentally ill people who commit crimes: "Just kill them"
48 Comments
Bonifratz@sh.itjust.works · 104 pts · 338d
Time to read up on Aktion T4, the Nazi campaign to mass murder people with disabilities and mental illness. During Aktion T4, the Nazis developed the techniques later used in concentration camps.
Kilmeade's comment is a Nazi comment.
Also, I don't know Don Beyer and maybe the tweet is meant in good faith, but arguing "we shouldn't kill the homeless because some of them are children or veterans" is highly problematic, too.
Rudee@lemmy.ml · 25 pts · 338d
Unfortunately some people have sympathy so selective that unless you can tug on very specific heartstrings, they will never give a damn about other people.
hector@lemmy.today · 14 pts · 338d
They are cynically playing the sheep, they have no heartstrings.
And the sheep are led into an alternate reality where the moral thing is to follow these cynical influencers.
It did not happen overnight, 30 years of fox working on previous propaganda has step by step brought their sheep to support fascism.
plyth@feddit.org · 6 pts · 338d
What if the sheep are also cynical and happily enjoy the benefits while the leaders shield them from blame and bad conscience?
hector@lemmy.today · 4 pts · 338d
Then they are cynical influencers too, just less effective ones.
Half the party faithful might be mostly sheep, half mostly cynical. But that is my guess idk.
ExtremeDullard@piefed.social · 68 pts · 338d
So this guy was sacked, right?
Just like the MSNBC dude who expressed schadenfraude OFF THE AIR over Kirk's murder, right?
Luouth@lemmy.world · 33 pts · 338d
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 63 pts · 338d
bloup@lemmy.sdf.org · 62 pts · 338d
Why do journalists do this sort of thing where a guy will literally say that we should murder homeless people and then they try to dress down their language to the point of dishonesty? Euthanasia is when you help something die that is in horrible unyielding pain. Not when you kill something because you don’t know how to take care of it.
wurzelgummidge@lemmy.ml · 20 pts · 338d
Journalists are an endangered breed, Fox certainly doesn't employ any
floofloof@lemmy.ca · 9 pts · 338d
They're not talking about the language of the Fox presenters. They're talking about the journalists who report on what the Fox presenters said.
RidgeDweller@sh.itjust.works · 9 pts · 338d
News orgs, and frankly many public institutions, seem to be lliability averse to a fault. My guess is journalists have generally been instructed to use passive language to avoid libel lawsuits due to the expense of settlement or counsel fees.
Passive language has become so common in journalism these days, and the far right terrorist cohort realizes the vocal minority bad faith pearl clutching schtick works well enough that they continue to threaten litigation against objective truth regularly. It's Trump's MO, and I assume it works because those being sued are terrified his base will be out for blood if he doesn't get his way.
The more the news orgs settle and normalize this shit, the more inertia there is to get back to reality. It's maddening, tbh.
Hanrahan@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 338d
FOX has always said it's entertainment, not News. They use that defence in court cases. They're not journalists, they're entertainers.
bloup@lemmy.sdf.org · 16 pts · 338d
to be clear I’m quoting the Rolling Stones article that was linked
plyth@feddit.org · 4 pts · 338d
They are professionals and write however they are paid to write.
umbrella@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 338d
UltraMagnus0001@lemmy.world · 43 pts · 338d
Bet he's not fired
unconsequential@slrpnk.net · 9 pts · 338d
Zero chance he gets fired. He didn’t go off script. He just read the brackets.
Croquette@sh.itjust.works · 5 pts · 338d
It's not a call for violence, so that's cool beans
BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today · 41 pts · 338d
The Conservative Propaganda Machine is now openly calling for a systematic, government program to murder an entire large demographic group that makes them uncomfortable.
MasterBlaster@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 336d
And in response to one of their own killing Kirk, the administration is about to embark on a campaign to cancel, jail, or deport all liberal, progressive, and leftist organizations like the ACLU - because they all support violence against conservatives, a bald-faced lie.
QuoVadisHomines@sh.itjust.works · 35 pts · 338d
Reminder this guy 16 years ago used overt white supremacist language on Fox and Friends and still kept his job.
ideonek@piefed.social · 34 pts · 338d
All people who were in the room and didn't voice a protest should never be hired in media again.
Yerbouti@sh.itjust.works · 32 pts · 338d
Remember the famous speech by Jesus: Involuntary lethal injection is A-Ok if it's for homeless people, but never involuntary inject a racist-sexist-hateful right wing figure with a bullet, that's not cool.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 338d
It seems to me, from what I understand from doctors, that's really rare. If it's a legitimate involuntary bullet, the male body has ways to try to shut that whole thing down.
OhStopYellingAtMe@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 338d
But they get upset when we call them Nazis.
rizzothesmall@sh.itjust.works · 24 pts · 338d
Which is fine because he wasn't drawing attention to the known facts that Charlie Kirk was a divisive fascist and the president is sitting on evidence that he, the president, is a pedophile.
unwarlikeExtortion@lemmy.ml · 21 pts · 338d
Step 1 of Nazi mass murder: ✓
zergtoshi@lemmy.world · 20 pts · 338d
If anyone can call for murder of anyone simply for being inconvenient, how long until people call for the murder of people like Brian Kilmeade?
Do the Brians seriously not see that coming?
Do those fucktards really think their opponents will forever try to stay on the moral high ground?
The future may hold some surprises for them, but not the kind of surprise they will like.
PolandIsAStateOfMind@lemmy.ml · 19 pts · 338d
Holy shit that is gruesome even for Gruesome Newsom
AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 338d
Someone should tweet that right back at "Round The Homeless Up and Imprison Them" Newsom
barnaclebutt@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 338d
Odd, I kinda feel the same way about Brian Kilmeades.
zergtoshi@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 338d
Imagine him introducing himself as "I'm Brian, Kill Me..." and before he gets to finish the sentence, you do him the favour!
Corkyskog@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 338d
For some reason I am imagining this as an anime scene and I don't even watch anime.
obre@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 338d
Just remember, if you're working class you're never more than three bad months away from homelessness
MasterBlaster@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 338d
Actually, I think you are being optimistic. Probably 2 months considering the debt most people have just to eat regularly.
Zahille7@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 338d
Closer to 1 month-a couple weeks.
collapse_already@lemmy.ml · 12 pts · 338d
"We support our troops."
FordBeeblebrox@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 338d
This is A) Horrifying and B) Literal stochastic terrorism.
Any left leaning folk who aren’t familiar with firearms should start practicing now, the Nazis are drumming up a fight whether we want it or not
badbytes@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 338d
That is literally, terrorism!
Werbert@lemmy.world · 8 pts · 338d
What a cunt.
NoodlePoint@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 338d
All of them on that newschannel are cunts.
muxika@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 338d
I knew this was a shit timeline, but not "Street Trash IRL" bad.
Edit: Street Trash is a movie where a mysterious liquor starts "dissolving" the homeless when they drink it.
HeyThisIsntTheYMCA@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 338d
that sounds like a very mentally deranged position. no, it is a mentally unwell position, one which requires therapy and mental health treatment to address. I believe and a thing i like to call radical empathy. Treat others how they want to be treated? No. That's bullshit. Treat people how they believe in treating others. Give the other boot a try. As such, applying reference 3 from your source material to its speaker would be both a kindness to its speaker, as he views it as kindness, and a kindness to society, as it removes him all the fuck ways away from us. Seems like his position or his life is due for a change.
huppakee@feddit.nl · 5 pts · 338d
Not everybody is capable of developing empathy though, it also sounds sociopathic. The problem isn't only the one guy saying something crazy, it is also his environment not intervening.
Tenderizer78@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 338d
Newsom is in no position to criticize Kilmeade's abhorrent views.
nightlily@leminal.space · 4 pts · 338d
I was about to say, didn’t he destroy a homeless camp as a photo-op?
morphballganon@mtgzone.com · 4 pts · 338d
Zerush@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 338d
Sadly Trump isn't homeless.
NoodlePoint@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 338d
Scumfuck wants a white world around him.
july@leminal.space · 1 pts · 338d
Themselves included?