Kilmeade made the comment Sept. 10, 2025, and it spread widely online on Sept. 13. Kilmeade apologized Sept. 14, calling his remark "extremely callous." In the context of the segment in which it was said, the statement appeared to refer specifically to mentally ill homeless people who refuse social services.
Brian Kilmeade, co-host of the popular Fox News program "Fox & Friends," was the subject of a widespread claim in September 2025 regarding an alleged comment he made about euthanizing unhoused people.
According to claims circulating on social media platforms like Instagram (archived), Facebook (archived) and Threads (archived) in mid-September 2025, Kilmeade apparently suggested "involuntary lethal injection" as a solution for homeless people who suffered from mental illnesses but refused help. He further added, "just kill them," according to the claims.
The rumor sparked an influx of searches on Snopes' website as readers tried to determine if Kilmeade actually said the purported statement.
"Involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them" is correctly attributed to Kilmeade, who made the statement during a discussion on "Fox & Friends" on Sept. 10, 2025, and then apologized for it on air on Sept. 14, providing further evidence the quote was legitimate. Fox News did not appear to publish the clip on the channel's YouTube page, but independent journalist Aaron Rupar posted the clip to X (archived) on Sept. 13. It also was available to view elsewhere on YouTube.
In the clip, "Fox & Friends" co-hosts Kilmeade, Lawrence Jones and Ainsley Earhardt discussed the homeless population as part of a segment about the killing of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, allegedly at the hands of a mentally ill person who lived in a homeless shelter.
The full context of the exchange was as follows (emphasis ours):
JONES: Billions of dollars to mental health and the homeless population. A lot of them don't want to take the programs. A lot of them don't want to get the help that is necessary. You can't give them a choice. Either you take the resources that we're going to give you, or you decide that you're going to be locked up in jail. That's the way it has to be now.
KILMEADE: Or, uh, involuntary lethal injection, or something. Just kill them.
EARHARDT: Yeah, Brian, why did it have to get to this point?
KILMEADE: I would say this: We're not voting for the right people. In North Carolina, wake up.
Kilmeade's use of "or" suggested he intended his statement as a possible solution specifically for homeless people suffering from mental illness who reject other alternatives, rather than implying all homeless people should be executed. We've reached out to Kilmeade to confirm that this is what he meant by the quote and will update this story if we hear back.
Though Kilmeade made the statement on Sept. 10, it did not appear to gain significant attention until Rupar posted the clip Sept. 13. That post had nearly 25 million views as of this writing.
Following the resulting backlash, Kilmeade made an on-air apology for the remarks on Sept. 14, 2025, which he also posted to X (archived).
He said:
We were discussing the murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina, and how to stop these kind of attacks by homeless, mentally ill assailants, including institutionalizing or jailing such people so they cannot attack again. Now, during that discussion, I wrongly said they should get lethal injections. I apologize for that extremely callous remark. I am obviously aware that not all mentally ill homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion.