Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade has historically been a strong supporter of former President Donald Trump—even going so far as to claim that his having apparently lost $1 billion was somehow proof of his business acumen—but Trump's recent behavior at his rallies seems to have gone a step too far for Kilmeade.
On a recent episode of his radio show on Fox Nation, Kilmeade answered a caller named Logan who said that he found it "cringeworthy" that Trump continued to latch onto his election fraud claims during a recent rally in Arizona, and that he was worried that Trump's obsession with the 2020 election would hurt his chances of re-election in 2024.
Kilmeade responded that he had spoken with two of Trump's friends after the Arizona speech, and that they had called the former President to complain about the speech:
"after the Arizona rally, they called him up and said that was the worst speech you ever gave."
He went on to elaborate on what he thinks Trump should be talking about:
"Nobody cares about your topics. There is so much to talk about that matters to you and I, Logan, right now about what’s happening in the Ukraine, how China is just forgetting about phase one, how they’re beginning to militarize everything around them, about to take Taiwan back. What’s happening here in this country […] That’s what people wanna talk about. It’s not hard stuff."
During the speech in Arizona, Trump claimed that an audit of the election results for the state showed that he had won. In reality, that audit showed that President Joe Biden had won Arizona.
Kilmeade further called out Trump's "outright lie," and said that he is "wasting our time."
"Right now, nobody cares about 2020. Nobody. And everything that he said and the challenges that he made should’ve been done before the election."
"And they did a recount in Arizona, and the recount showed no difference almost, and he came out and said it showed that they won Arizona. That’s an outright lie, and please stop wasting our time with that, because he’s capable of doing so much more."
You can listen to Kilmeade's remarks on his radio show here.
Twitter users seemed confused by Kilmeade's sudden reproach of Trump after his long history of vehement support.
Wait, wut? Is the tide turning\u2026?https://www.yahoo.com/entertainment/fox-news-brian-kilmeade-slams-002858624.html\u00a0\u2026— Kent (@Kent) 1644281163
Kilmeade going against the words of his almighty leader? Let me look outside to see if pigs are flying.— Harry Scondras (@Harry Scondras) 1644291527
Some Trump supporters refused to see the light, despite the audio clip.
I believe that's not what he said. Again, you guys are not saying the context sorrounding his statement.— ~ \ud83d\udcad (@~ \ud83d\udcad) 1644329754
No one doubts that the election was corrupt and fraudulent. Need to overturn— Larry (@Larry) 1644333204
Others simply recognized that 2020 election fraud is Trump's schtick, and weren't surprised that he's still stuck on it.
But that's the entire point. He cannot talk about anything else. He has no vision or understanding on any of the issues that are important today and in the future.\nHe lacks the background. He is on his own now. No advisors of importance that can guide him. This is it, his brain.— tonger (@tonger) 1644331697
"he\u2019s capable of doing so much more,\u201d Kilmeade said"\n\nSeriously not sure why he would think this. He's never been for anything besides himself.— Raging Centrist (@Raging Centrist) 1644293093
While it's hard to know whether this recent criticism of Trump indicates any true change of heart on Kilmeade's part, it's clear that he is unhappy with the former President's choice of topics at his rallies.
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