Brian Kilmeade


Brian Kilmeade is an American television and radio presenter for Fox News. On weekdays he co-hosts Fox's morning show, Fox & Friends, and he hosts the Fox News Radio program The Brian Kilmeade Show. He has been credited as co-author on fiction and non-fiction books.

Early life and education

Kilmeade was born in New York City, of Irish and Italian descent. After graduating from Massapequa High School in 1982, Kilmeade attended LIU Post in Brookville, New York, where he graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in 1986.

Career

He began his career as a correspondent on Channel One News, a daily national high school television news program. He later served as an anchor and host for KHSL-TV in Ontario, California. He co-hosted The Jim Brown Show on KLSD, an all-sports radio network. In 1993, Kilmeade joined Jim Brown as part of the announcing team for the inaugural Ultimate Fighting Championship event, conducting post-fight interviews. He moved into the play-by-play role for UFC 2 and UFC 3 in 1994.
Kilmeade was a freelance sports anchor for WVIT in Hartford, Connecticut, beginning in 1997. He was a sideline reporter for the MSG Network, where he covered the New York/New Jersey MetroStars, a major league soccer team based in Giants Stadium.
Later, he worked as a feature reporter and anchor for Newsport TV, where he hosted Newsport Journal, a daily magazine show for the national sports network. He also anchored Scoreboard Central, a live half-hour general sports program. According to his website biography, he has 10 years' experience as a stand-up comedian.
In April 2006, he filled in the Fox News Radio time slot of former Fox anchor Tony Snow, who had left the network to become Press Secretary in the George W. Bush Administration. He is a frequent anchor of The Five airing nightly at 5 p.m. eastern on FNC. he co-hosts Fox's cable morning television show, Fox and Friends, along with Steve Doocy and Ainsley Earhardt. He also hosts the Fox News Radio program The Brian Kilmeade Show and hosts "What Made America Great" on Fox Nation.

Controversial remarks

Kilmeade faced criticism after expressing support for the far-right English Defence League, often described as an extremist group, during an interview with their leader Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, who also uses the name 'Tommy Robinson'. He finished the interview with the words "Tommy, we got your back and we'll definitely look to keep in touch, it's great what you're doing".
Kilmeade has said that Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi calling President Donald Trump a "racist" is "personally offensive". Previously, when then-Fox News colleague Glenn Beck called President Barack Obama a "racist" while appearing with Kilmeade on Fox & Friends, Kilmeade did not protest Beck's statement.

"We keep marrying other species and other ethnics"

On July 8, 2009, Kilmeade and two co-hosts were discussing a study that, based on research done in Finland and Sweden, showed people who stay married are less likely to suffer from Alzheimer's disease. Kilmeade, who is Italian-Irish American, commented, " we keep marrying other species and other ethnics..." Ignoring attempts by co-host Gretchen Carlson to interrupt him, he added, "See, the problem is the Swedes have pure genes. Because they marry other Swedes... Finns marry other Finns, so they have a pure society. In America we marry everybody, we marry Italians and Irish."
On July 20, 2009, Kilmeade apologized for his remarks, saying, "I made comments that were offensive to many people. That was not my intention, and looking back at those comments I realize they were inappropriate. For that I sincerely apologize. America huge melting pot, and that is what makes us such a great country..."

"All terrorists are Muslims"

In 2010, Kilmeade said "not all Muslims are terrorists, but all terrorists are Muslims." Kilmeade later said he misspoke, "I don't believe all terrorists are Muslims... What I should have said, and I'd like to clarify, is all terrorists who killed us on 9/11; with the Cole; and the Khobar; and the '98 embassies; that's what I should have said."

"Bowe Bergdahl's father looks like a member of the Taliban"

On June 3, 2014, Kilmeade made a reference about Bowe Bergdahl's father on air, stating, “I mean, he says he was growing his beard because his son was in captivity. Well, your son's out now. So if you really don't want to no longer look like a member of the Taliban, you don't have to look like a member of the Taliban. Are you out of razors?"

"Not our kids"

On June 22, 2018, Kilmeade on Fox & Friends defended the Trump administration family separation policy by saying, "Like it or not, these are not our kids" in reference to children of illegal immigrants who had been separated from their parents and put in detainment.

Climate change

In 2018, Kilmeade criticized Lesley Stahl of 60 Minutes for asking President Donald Trump about climate change. Kilmeade said that Stahl was pushing an "agenda" and injecting her "point of view" into the interview by asking the President whether he truly believed climate change was a hoax. Kilmeade said, "She really believes in global warming and that's fine, and man's role in climate change and that's okay. But I don't think you should bring your point of view ― she was trying to win over the president with her point of view. There are other scientists. Something is going on out there. The role of man has not been unveiled in a way the president accepts."

Personal life

Kilmeade is Roman Catholic. He is married to Dawn Kilmeade, and they have three children: Brian, Kirstyn, and Kaitlyn.

Books