Fox News Star Shocks His Own Co-Hosts with Surprising Take

Fox News viewers got an unexpected jolt Thursday when Brian Kilmeade broke ranks with a familiar conservative argument — and left his own co-hosts visibly surprised.

The Fox & Friends host stunned Ainsley Earhardt and Lawrence Jones during a discussion about a controversial highway marker in Charleston, South Carolina, that honors Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee.

The stone marker had been removed in 2021, during a broader national reckoning over Confederate monuments. But last December, it suddenly reappeared in Charleston’s Marion Square, reigniting debate over how America should handle painful pieces of its past.

Kilmeade, 62, made it clear he did not think the tribute needed to return.

“If you read his biography in his own words, he didn’t want a statue,” Kilmeade told his co-hosts.

That comment immediately sparked pushback at the Fox & Friends desk.

Jones argued that the real issue was not necessarily the existence of statues, but the way history is taught around them.

“I think the statue is not the problem. It is getting the history right,” Jones said. “The statues are fine. Just don’t think that he’s a hero because he’s not a hero.”

Jones said monuments can serve as teaching tools, but warned against removing every statue connected to a controversial figure in American history.

Kilmeade, however, did not back down.

He acknowledged Lee’s military reputation, saying the Confederate commander “fought well” and was once considered one of the best generals in the country. But he argued that military skill did not erase the larger choice Lee made during the Civil War.

That is when Earhardt jumped in with a surprised reaction.

“I’m surprised to hear you say that,” she told Kilmeade. “Because you always say, ‘Don’t erase history.’”

The moment stood out because Kilmeade has previously taken a much harder line against removing controversial monuments.

Back in 2020, during the Black Lives Matter protests, he urged protesters not to tear down statues before understanding the history behind them.

“Learn about it, don’t condemn it,” Kilmeade said at the time. “And don’t be arrogant about it.”

But on Thursday, Kilmeade appeared to draw a line between remembering history and restoring a tribute.

“I’m not saying forget who Robert E. Lee did good,” he said. “But I’m just saying, to have Robert E. Lee’s statue back up as if it’s a tribute to him, he made a choice and it was the wrong choice.”

The exchange left Fox & Friends with an unusually tense moment, as one of the network’s best-known hosts openly challenged a talking point often heard on the right.

Fox News has not publicly commented on the exchange.