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- In a rant on Monday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade complained about President Biden and Black voters specifically.
- Kilmeade said only doctors should promote the COVID-19 vaccine to reduce hesitancy.
- The host blamed Biden for not doing more to encourage more Black Americans to get vaccinated.
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"Fox & Friends" co-host Brian Kilmeade went on a bizarre rant Monday blaming President Joe Biden for not getting more Black people vaccinated.
"Why doesn't the president call out African-Americans who put him in office and yell at them to get the shot?" Kilmeade said, referring to the 43% vaccination rate among Black people nationwide. White Americans are only marginally more vaccinated, with a 52% vaccination rate that's far below levels recommended by public health officials, according to data published by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
-Lis Power (@LisPower1) September 13, 2021
Before Kilmeade grew visibly frustrated on-air, the segment began with Republican Texas Congressman and former White House Physician Ronny Jackson talking about how he only got the vaccine because House Speaker Nancy Pelosi would not let him go on foreign trips without it.
Kilmeade argued that only doctors should be messaging the benefits of the vaccine before wondering aloud why Biden wasn't doing more to promote the shots, specifically for Black voters.
"Just to follow up on that, Dr. Ronny Jackson. Usually, people go to doctors for their personal medical – for example, now there's gonna be a shot available for kids 5 and up," Kilmeade said, emphasizing each use of the word "doctor."
"I don't want a politician telling me what to do with a 5-year-old," he continued. "That should be parent and pediatrician. I'm sure you agree with that."
COVID-19 vaccines are not yet approved by the FDA under an emergency authorization for children under the age of 12.
Black and Latino Americans have had lower vaccination rates than the general population since the beginning of the vaccine rollout. As Insider's Hilary Brueck, Shelby Livingston, and Allana Akhtar reported, a major issue beyond hesitancy - which for some stems back to the Tuskegee Experiment and other campaigns that have harmed Black Americans over the years - comes down to access, particularly when owning a car and taking time off from work are the only viable ways to make an appointment.
Vaccine mandates, the ostensible subject of the Monday segment, have been a contentious issue among the "Fox & Friends" hosts. In a recent spat, Kilmeade compared New York's vaccine mandate to being under Taliban rule.
Conservative men are still among the most likely Americans to refuse the shots, and Fox viewers more likely than the general population to say the same, according to polling from Pew Research and the Public Religion Research Institute.