Ignoring staff safety and dismissing at-risk members, Brian Kilmeade demands Congress work in-person during the pandemic
Written by Bobby Lewis
Published
Fox & Friends co-host Brian Kilmeade is calling on members of Congress to go back to work at the U.S. Capitol, even though many states, and Washington, D.C., still have stay-at-home orders, which hint at the danger of such a move. Worse yet, during his demands for Congress to get to work, Kilmeade ignored the health and safety of congressional staff, including those working in members’ offices, custodial services, and security.
There’s been an ongoing debate on whether Congress should be in session during the pandemic. The Senate decided to meet in person starting Monday, but the House scrapped similar plans last week amid safety concerns for members and staff.
At the beginning of the May 5 edition of Fox & Friends, Kilmeade downplayed the uniquely lethal threat of COVID-19 to older members of Congress and staff, arguing that travel is always risky for senior citizens and the immunocompromised and that if COVID-19 is now going to be a hindrance for them to congregate in person, then they “shouldn’t have run for reelection” before.
Later in the show, when fellow co-host Steve Doocy tried to explain the risk for members of Congress and other workers to contract COVID-19 and suggested a compromise of Congress convening remotely, Kilmeade doubled down: “You’ve got to work. Don’t take the job if you don’t think you can do it at an older age.” When co-host Ainsley Earhardt brought up the unpredictability of the coronavirus pandemic, Kilmeade retorted, “We didn’t know about 9/11.”
One week earlier, Kilmeade had lashed out at Earhardt’s concerns about her sick mother potentially contracting COVID-19 due to other people not practicing social distancing. The new exchange suggests once again that as long as Kilmeade gets his wish of reopening the economy, the health and safety of anyone else doesn’t matter to him.