Brian Kilmeade clashes with his Fox & Friends co-hosts while reminding them ‘Putin is the bad guy'
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade butted heads with his MAGA-backing colleagues on Tuesday over the Trump administration's handling of the Ukraine war, repeatedly reminding them that 'Vladimir Putin is the bad guy' and not Ukrainian President Volodomyr Zelensky.
Though a longtime and loyal supporter of Donald Trump, Kilmeade has also been a harsh and vocal critic of Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine, placing the entirety of blame for the three-year war on the Kremlin. Even as many within the right-wing media ecosphere have expressed sympathy for Putin while demanding that the United States stop aiding Ukraine in its fight, Kilmeade has remained steadfast in his pro-Ukrainian stance.
In recent days, the Fox & Friends star has made it abundantly clear that he is breaking from Trump on Ukraine. Following the explosive White House clash that saw Trump and Vice President JD Vance raging against Zelensky, the president decided to suspend all military aid to Ukraine because he wanted Zelensky 'committed' to a goal of peace with Russia.
In response to that Monday evening move, which Ukrainian officials said could impact the frontlines within days and gives the appearance that America is 'siding with Russia,' Kilmeade took to social media to take a veiled shot at the president. 'Can we all remember [Putin] is the bad guy—they invaded—they kidnap kids,' Kilmeade tweeted. 'Whatever happens—Ukraine can not lose—eastern Europe will be next.'
During Tuesday's broadcast of Trump's favorite morning cable news show, Kilmeade continued to hammer that point home while also taking issue with his co-hosts unequivocally backing the president's pivot towards Russia in the war. Specifically, he was put off by the suggestion that the United States could further punish Ukraine if Zelensky doesn't apologize to Trump over the White House clash.
'Mr. Zelenskyy is probably thinking, if I don't apologize, what's in it for me? One of the things that is being overlooked – that a close advisor to the president could actually impact – is the Starlink internet,' co-host Steve Doocy said. 'That's Elon Musk. If Elon Musk wants to send a message, all he's got to do is say, 'I'm gonna pull the plug on that.' Because they've got tens of thousands of terminals over there right now.'
Kilmeade, who was broadcasting remotely while the rest of the crew was in the studio, accused his colleagues of siding with Putin over Ukraine. 'Keep in mind what you guys are saying,' he declared. 'You are saying Zelenskyy is worse than Putin.'
After Doocy and the other hosts denied that was the case, Kilmeade continued to heap criticism on them for suggesting that the U.S. could further threaten Zelensky to force him to agree to terms with Russia.
'You're saying we should starve Starlink,' Kilmeade exclaimed. 'You'd have to take Starlink from our allies in order to get them to do an economic deal or get them to the table?'
He went on to assert that Europe is concerned about Ukraine falling to Russia because they believe all of Eastern Europe will soon become infiltrated, resulting in the reformation of the Soviet Union. While he credited Trump with forcing European leaders to 'step up' and further commit to supporting Ukraine following the president's blowup with Zelensky, he reiterated that there is only one true antagonist in the war.
'And Vladimir Putin is the bad guy. Zelensky might not be leader of choice, but he is Ukrainians' leader of choice,' he flatly stated, prompting co-host Lawrence Jones to fire back.
'Brian, everybody knows Putin is the bad guy. We don't need to virtue signal every single day and say Putin is the bad guy,' Jones huffed before referencing the scuttled mineral rights deal with Ukraine. 'But just saying he's the bad guy doesn't end the war. What ends the war is Zelensky partnering with the United States from an economic standpoint, that is his security guarantee. And he won't do this! He won't even let us get to Putin!'
Seemingly parroting Trump talking points, co-host Ainsley Earhardt further groused that Zelensky 'used to be so grateful' but has become 'disrespectful' to the US even though 'we have given three times more than Europe.' This false claim has been repeated by Trump countless times, despite the fact that European countries have committed over twice as much aid to Ukraine as the United States – and allocated more already to the war-torn country.
Saying he didn't think that Zelensky 'forgets' all the assistance America has given Ukraine, Kilmeade added that the 'off-the-rails' White House exchange likely 'wasn't a bad moment' for Trump and it will probably 'play in a loop everyday' in the Trump presidential library. Still, he wanted his colleagues to think about the larger implications of the ideas they were floating.
'In the big picture, realize if you deny Starlink to your ally, then you are not only not providing weapons, you are letting maybe Kyiv fall,' he concluded. 'That is not what anybody wants.'
Meanwhile, Earhardt insisted that 'nobody wants World War III' and that 'Trump would step in to prevent that' if that was a possibility.
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