It’s not often that Fox News hosts clash with the President or among each other, but Trump’s strike on Iranian commander Qasem Soleimani seems to have spurred an exception.
On Thursday night, the Pentagon confirmed that President Trump authorized a drone strike on the Baghdad International Airport in Iraq that killed Soleimani, a top military official with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. The U.S. State Department is now urging all U.S. citizens in Iraq to exit the country immediately in anticipation of possible retaliation from the Iranian military.
During a Friday morning “Fox & Friends” segment, Fox News host Geraldo Rivera got into a heated debate with co-host Brian Kilmeade, saying that he “fear[s] the worst” because he thinks that “what we have done is unleash the beast” with Soleimani’s killing.
“I fear the worst,” Rivera said. “You’re going to see the U.S. markets go crazy today. You’re going to see the price of oil spiking today. This is a very, very big deal.”
Kilmeade disagreed with Rivera by arguing that he views the attack as a preventative measure.
“This isn’t about [Soleimani’s] resumé of blood and death, it is about what was next,” Kilmeade said. “We stopped the next attack. That’s what I think you’re missing.”
After Rivera pressed Kilmeade on what “credible source” can “predict what the next Iranian move would be,” the “Fox & Friends” co-host responded that “Secretary of State [Mike Pompeo] and American intelligence provided that material.”
Rivera then ripped into Kilmeade for “cheering this on.”
“Don’t for a minute start cheering this on,” Rivera said. “What you have done, what we have done, we have unleashed —”
Kilmeade quickly replied that he “will cheer it on and that he’s “elated,” before taking offense at Rivera’s suggestion that “like Lindsey Graham, (you) have never met a war you didn’t like!”
“That is not true,” Kilmeade said. “And don’t even say that!”
Watch the exchange on “Fox & Friends” below:
Fox News' Geraldo Rivera clashes with Brian Kilmeade over Soleimani strike pic.twitter.com/zNVPfCSwMf
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 3, 2020
Rivera wasn’t the only Fox News figure to express his dismay with Trump’s strike on Soleimani.
As news broke of the strike on Soleimani on Thursday night, Fox News host Tucker Carlson railed against the President’s decision, which he believes means that the U.S. is “lumbering towards a new Middle East war.”
“There’s been virtually no debate or even discussion about this, but America appears to be lumbering towards a new Middle East war. We have to say, it’s one that officials in Washington wanted for decades,” Carlson said. “Disgraced National Security Adviser John Bolton has made it his life’s mission to start a war with Iran and Bolton might be getting his wish.”
After asking his viewers whether they should “be happy about that,” Carlson continued criticizing former National Security Adviser John Bolton by arguing that “the last time we took John Bolton’s advice in the region, Iran became far more powerful than it was before.”
Carlson then pivoted to arguing that the “invasion of America from the south” is being ignored by people calling for war with Iran.
“The ones telling you the Persian menace is the greatest threat we face, are the very same ones demanding that you ignore the invasion of America now in progress from the South, the millions – tens of millions of foreign nationals living among us illegally,” Carlson said. “They are liars and they don’t care about you, they don’t care about your kids. And you should keep all of that in mind.”
Watch Carlson’s remarks below:
Tucker Carlson criticizes Trump's strike on Qasem Soleimani pic.twitter.com/RQyU03a02J
— TPM Livewire (@TPMLiveWire) January 3, 2020
