A war of words erupted between Fox News hosts Geraldo Rivera and Brian Kilmeade after Rivera praised President Donald Trump and the U.S. military for securing the American Embassy in Iraq but then said none of that mattered because the assassination of Qassim Soleimani will be viewed by the Iranian as a major escalation.
“Don’t for a minute start cheering this on!” Rivera said. “What you have done, what we have done, what we have unleashed…”
Kilmeade jumped in, saying “I will cheer it on. I am elated.”
Then Rivera stepped the situation up a notch.
“Then you, like Lindsey Graham, have never met a war you didn’t like,” he fired back.
“That is not true, and don’t even say that!” Kilmeade replied.
Then, during the contentious and noisy exchange Kilmeade noted that militias trained or commanded by Soleimani were responsible for the deaths of hundreds of American soldiers.
“What about the tens of thousands of Iraqis who have died since 2003?” Rivera fired back.
Rivera later offered an apology of sorts but noted he still disagreed about the assassination of Soleimani, The Hill reports.
“You know I’m your biggest fan in this building and in this town,” Rivera said on the Brian Kilmeade Show on Fox News radio in the aftermath of the dustup. “I think you really have a total grasp on issues that is profoundly securing, reaffirming, reassuring for us. I just disagree on the issue of killing Soleimani.”
Here’s the fiery exchange below.
Geraldo: Don't for a minute start cheering this on, what we have done, what we have unleashed —
Kilmeade: I will cheer it on. I am elated.
Geraldo: Then you, like Lindsey Graham, have never met a war you didn't like.
Kilmeade: That is not true, don't even say that. pic.twitter.com/1VZ3tZJPRb
— Lis Power (@LisPower1) January 3, 2020
Featured image via screen grab
