Fox disputes 'massively racist' host’s comment about Harris addressing college sorority

Editor's note: This article has been updated to include a response from Fox News stating that Kilmeade said "college sorority" instead of "colored sorority," along with tweets from Black journalists disputing Fox's explanation.

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade recently made a eyebrow-raising comment on Wednesday's episode of Fox & Friends about Vice President (and now presumptive 2024 Democratic presidential nominee) Kamala Harris.

On Wednesday, Harris — who is a graduate of a historically Black college and a member of the historically Black Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority — will address the Zeta Phi Beta sorority's annual convention in Indianapolis, Indiana. While Harris won't be attending Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's speech to a joint session of Congress, she will be meeting with him one-on-one prior to the address.

Kilmeade made no mention of Harris' solo meeting with Netanyahu when criticizing her decision to not attend his joint address. And he notably used a decades-old descriptor for Black Americans when describing Zeta Phi Beta.

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"She will not show up for the Prime Minister's joint session of Congress. She'd rather address — in the summer — a sorority, a colored sorority, like she can't get outta that!" Kilmeade said.

Kilmeade's remark drew widespread criticism from journalists, commentators and others on X (formerly Twitter). Former Pennsylvania Democratic state lawmaker Brian Sims encouraged his followers to "call out this kind of racism every single time you hear it."

"The word 'colored' is a massively racist Jim Crow relic that has no business in anyone’s mouth, especially a white person’s," he tweeted. "Every single time you hear it, it’s wrong. Say so."

Hamilton R. Grant, who is the Democratic nominee for South Carolina's 79th house district, shared his own experience of encountering racism as a Black candidate seeking elected office.

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"Black candidates experience racism like you wouldn’t believe," he wrote. "Racist attacks like this is what sparks the very same political violence people condemned a few weeks ago."

Democratic campaign consultant Tim Fullerton opined that Kilmeade's "colored" attack meant that Fox hosts "aren't hiding their racism anymore." MSNBC host Katie Phang called the remark "disgusting." SiriusXM radio host Zerlina Maxwell quote-tweeted the video of Kilmeade's comment and simply wrote, "wow."

Julie Roginsky, whose bio describes her as a "former Fox News and CNBC contributor," reminded her followers that Sen. JD Vance (R-Ohio), who is former President Donald Trump's 2024 running mate, is also not attending Netanyahu's speech. However, she noted that "Fox won't say a word about his absence or where he might be going instead" because "he is a white man."

In an emailed statement to AlterNet, a Fox News spokesperson disputed that Kilmeade said "colored" and insisted he said "college sorority" instead. The spokesperson pointed out that Politico correspondent Eugene Daniels — who first drew attention to Kilmeade's comment — deleted his initial tweet.

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"Eugene Daniels’ now deleted tweet completely misquoted and unnecessarily maligned Brian Kilmeade who clearly said college sorority," the spokesperson said.

Daniels wrote in a subsequent tweet that he spoke to the network — who assured him that executives would speak to Kilmeade off the air — and that he chose to "take Brian and his team at their word." However, two other Black journalists cast doubt on Fox News' explanation. Both Touré and April Reign tweeted that they both heard "colored" instead of "college," and that "college sorority" was superfluous phrasing.

"Are there non-college sororities? There would be no need for him to clarify college sorority as opposed to non-college sorority. I heard colored," Touré wrote. "But either he's a moron who says racist things (Fox) or he's a marble-mouthed word garbler which is unacceptable in a broadcaster."

"He said 'colored.' 'College sorority' is redundant and them trying to save face," Reign tweeted. "No need to belabor it."

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Watch the video of Kilmeade's remarks by clicking this link.