“Fox & Friends” co-host Brian Kilmeade on Wednesday made what apparently was supposed to be a “joke” about a horrific crash in California involving a semi-tractor trailer and a Ford Expedition in which at least 13 people were killed.
“A 1997 Ford Expedition, with seats removed, had 25 people inside when the big rig slammed into the side of it at the intersection of State Route 115 and Norrish Road near Holtville, California,” USA Today reports. “Federal authorities also said late Tuesday they were investigating any possible links to human smuggling. The crash occurred about 10 miles north of the border, and a Mexican government official said at least 10 of the victims were Mexican nationals.”
A large portion of Fox News generally includes coverage about illegal immigration, and Kilmeade is no exception. In 2019 he railed against migrant children being allowed to enter the country who then “go into our school system,” and “suddenly, they’re trying to teach kids with other kids who are paying taxes, whose parents are paying taxes, the same subjects, and the other kids don’t speak English.”
One year earlier Kilmeade defended the Trump administration’s child separation policy that ultimately led to 5500 children being separated from their families. Hundreds remain separated. But to Kilmeade, it didn’t matter because, “Like it or not, these aren’t our kids.”
“Show them compassion, but it’s not like [Trump is] doing this to the people of Idaho or Texas. These are people from another country.”
On “Fox & Friends” Wednesday morning the crew continued to try to hew to the current right wing talking points that President Joe Biden is “trying to get as many kids out the door and into America as possible.”
As that segment was coming to a close, Kilmeade dropped his “joke,” live, on-air:
“Hey, were those 25 people in the Expedition, were they social distancing when they were laying on top of each other when they crashed into a semi truck?”
Kilmeade got that detail wrong: police say the semi truck crashed into the Ford Expedition.
Watch: