Fox News host Brian Kilmeade is the subject of harsh online criticism after viewers believe he used a racial epithet to describe an event Vice President Kamala Harris is attending Wednesday evening.
The criticism began early Wednesday morning as the X account “Bad Fox Graphics” — an account dedicated to pointing out mistakes made by the cable news channel — posted a video clip alleging Kilmeade made racist remarks about the Vice President.
“She will not show up for the Prime Minister’s joint session of Congress. She’d rather address — in the summer — a sorority, a COLORED sorority, like she can’t get outta that!” the account claimed Kilmeade said.
The video was subsequently posted by Eugene Daniels. He is the POLITICO Playbook co-author, White House Correspondents Association President, and an MSNBC senior political analyst.
The clip posted by Daniels has been viewed more than 1 million times as of this publication.
Many posters then lobbed heavy criticism at Brian Kilmeade and Fox News for his comments. However, it appears as if the FOX & Friends host said “college” sorority, rather than “colored” sorority.
Vice President Harris is set to address the Zeta Phi Beta sorority at its annual convention in Indianapolis on Wednesday. The sorority is a historically Black group, which led observers of Kilmeade’s comments to allege his comments were racist in nature.
In a statement to Barrett Media, a Fox News spokesperson said “Eugene Daniels’ tweet completely misquoted and unnecessarily maligned Brian Kilmeade who clearly said college sorority.”
More than 90 minutes after making the accusation, Daniels rescinded his claim, stating that he would take the network and its hosts at its word that Kilmeade did indeed say “college” rather than “colored.” He also deleted his original post.
Lawrence Jones, who was on set with Kilmeade at the time of his comments, defended his colleague stating it was clear the host said “college.”
Both current and former Fox News colleagues came to Kilmeade’s defense in the situation, arguing that it’s clear what the host actually said isn’t offensive or inflammatory.
