Brian Kilmeade's Trump Praise Sparks Outrage Among Fox News Viewers
Brian Kilmeade's recent comments on The Five drew sharp criticism after he praised President Donald Trump, igniting outrage among his conservative audience.
On July 9, Kilmeade, stepping in for Jesse Watters, engaged in a discussion about Graham Platner, a former Democratic Senate candidate from Maine accused of sexual assault. Platner, 41, has denied the allegations, which reportedly date back nearly five years, and subsequently withdrew from the Senate race.
Kilmeade made a controversial comparison between Trump and Platner. This comes after Kilmeade previously criticized Trump for his approach to Iran negotiations.
He stated, "I think the one difference is with Trump. I don’t know if the analogy might be relevant. But with Trump, if you accuse him, he’s going to tell you, ‘No! You accuse me! I’ll point you out!’”
Kilmeade continued to boast about Trump’s confrontational style, asserting, “He’ll tell you directly, exactly what it is! He doesn’t say generally it’s not true. He’ll tell you exactly who accused him. And he’ll tell you why it’s not true.”
He elaborated, “So he would confront these people. He just said it’s not true! Well, you dated her for a while, tell me why it’s not true! Tell me the proof! That would show a guy that wanted a fight over the last six days, that’s probably what could have kept him in the race, if he pushed back and had proof that he didn’t do it.”
Trump faces accusations from over two dozen women regarding predatory behavior. He has consistently denied these claims. Notably, in September 2005, Trump was recorded saying, “I don’t even wait and when you’re a star, they let you do it. You can do anything... Grab ‘em by the p---y. You can do anything.”
Social media erupted with backlash against Kilmeade's remarks. Viewers labeled his comments as morally unacceptable.
One user exclaimed, “Disgraceful Kilmeade!” Another criticized the rationale behind conservative logic, stating, “Making it okay for Trump to have an excuse for everything.”
A third commenter suggested that Platner should have adopted Trump's strategy of denial regardless of evidence.
On July 4, E. Jean Carroll sought a court order to compel Trump to pay her $5 million in damages awarded to her after a jury found him liable for sexually abusing and defaming her in a civil case three years prior.
The jury concluded in 2023 that Trump was liable for sexually abusing Carroll and defaming her by falsely denying the incident, which adversely affected her reputation.
