Former Fox News contributor Bill Kristol slammed his former employer for stoking the flames of hate that led to the slaughter of 11 Jews at a Pittsburgh synagogue on Saturday.
In an appearance on MSNBC's Morning Joe on Monday, Kristol blasted Fox for peddling conspiracy theories in the name of profit despite the danger to public safety.
“I’m a free speech person, and I’m not for being super fastidious about calling people to account about things that are said in the heat of the moment and so forth,” Kristol said. “(But) at the end of the day I think Fox, with its evening lineup, Fox Business with Lou Dobbs, the routine stuff that is said there, people who work at Fox, the management of Fox, the shareholders of Fox, the corporate board of Fox really need to look in the mirror and say, ‘Are we comfortable with this? We’re making money.'”
Kristol added that Fox's rhetoric, like accusing Jewish billionaire philanthropist and Holocaust survivor George Soros of buying protesters, has a detrimental effect on American culture.
“Obviously no one wants a board of directors to be micromanaging saying you can’t say this on the 8 p.m. show," he said, "but are they comfortable with the overall effect that Fox News and Fox Business, and I say this as someone who was on Fox News for 10 years. Can they defend their effect on the culture?”
Watch the full clip below:
Kristol tore into Fox on Twitter after Fox & Friends host Brian Kilmeade suggested that "entire populations" of immigrants are bringing "diseases" to the United States.
"No disease any refugee might bring to America is as dangerous as the disease of fear, bigotry and hatred now being spread in America by Fox."
A doctor chimed in on why Kilmeade's statement was ridiculous.
Social media sees right through Fox.
Some think they found the real disease, and it's not refugees seeking asylum.
The conversation continued after Kristol tweeted: "The United States of America has a Fox News problem."
Ya think?
Followers agreed, noting that after the shooting on Saturday, Fox News doubled-down on their conspiratorial rhetoric.
"They. Want. This," one person wrote.
Others referred to Fox as "state-run television" because of its near-constant defense of President Donald Trump, who regularly calls in to vent and have his worldview reaffirmed.
Kristol isn't alone in his concerns.
White nationalist hate crimes over the last week have awoken the country to a sobering reality. The rhetoric bellowing from the president is motivating those who would do harm making the country less safe, less free, and less secure for all.
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