Fox News Hosts Condemn ‘Disgusting’ Christmas Tree Torching By ‘Bastard’ Alleged Arsonist: ‘We Don’t Feel Safe’

Fox News hosts condemned the torching of the network’s Christmas tree outside their New York City headquarters on Wednesday, with some connecting the allegedly intentional fire to a nationwide crimewave.

Following what the NYPD called an early morning arson outside of Fox’s studio in Midtown Manhattan, some network hosts spent the early part of the day sharing their collective disbelief. Others were ready to respond by what they viewed as an attack on the holiday season.

On Fox & Friends, co-hosts Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade responded to the fire with outrage. Kilmeade called the alleged arsonist a “psycho” and a “lunatic.”

ABC7 reported that a 49-year-old homeless man named Craig Tamanahae is suspected of starting the fire, and he was in possession of a lighter when he was arrested after he allegedly scaled the “All-American Christmas Tree” and reduced much of it it to ashes.

“Who sets a Christmas tree on fire?” asked Doocy.

Earhardt added: “It’s a tree that unites us, that brings us together. It’s about the Christmas spirit, it is about the holiday season. It’s about Jesus. It’s about Hanukkah. It is about everything we stand for as a country. Freedom, and being able to worship the way you want to worship.”

“It makes me so mad,” she said.

Doocy cited the fire is evidence that New York has devolved in chaos.

“This city has gone south when it comes to safety. We don’t feel safe when we come to work in the morning. We don’t feel safe when we go home at night,” he said.

“Through the years, people… hundreds of thousands of tourists have come to New York City to celebrate the Christmas season, and they walk up and down Fifth Avenue and our street, Sixth Avenue, they look at the lights and today there are no lights because somebody burn down our Christmas tree,” he said.

Earhardt, in what was an apparent nod to President Joe Biden, said she hopes to see the tree built back “bigger and better.”

Later in the morning, Fox host Harris Faulkner declared that Fox News would rebuild and recover.

“No one can burn down the spirit of Christmas, or destroy our resilience. A new tree is on the way. It will be brighter and more beautiful than ever. And as we do here on The Faulkner Focus, we share with you every part of our journey. The part where sometimes we get hit, and the part where we get up together,” she said.

Co-hosts on Outnumbered also reacted to the fire on Wednesday afternoon, with co-host Emily Compagno attributing the inferno to an uptick in crime across cities run by Democrats.

“America’s crime crisis hits close to home for us here at Fox after a brazen arson attack happened right outside our New York City headquarters. Where a suspect set fire to the fox all American Christmas tree, defacing the symbol of peace and joy, and giving us a front row seat to the rampant crime ravaging Democrat-run cities,” she said.

Compagno noted that police had not yet offered a motive for the blaze. Later on Outnumbered while discussing the fire and other crimes nationwide, Fox Business Network host Lisa Kennedy assured Fox viewers that the Grinch wouldn’t steal Christmas.

“Here at Fox, the tree means so much to people because we have these incredible red, white and blue decorations, which is a nod to not only the season, but also this incredible country that we live in. And I will tell you this: We’re gonna build the tree. The tree will be back in no time. It is going to be beautiful and massive and it is going to mean even more than it did before,” Kennedy said.

“So, come see us. Come celebrate. You firebug little bastard, you’e not going to keep us down,” Kennedy said of the alleged arsonist.

Police Commissioner Dermot Shea commented on Tamanahae Wednesday morning, and noted that the man might be suffering from mental illness. Shea did divulge that Tamanahae is known to the NYPD as a repeat criminal.

“The motive I don’t think is clear at this point. It’s an individual that is known to us. He has a series of low-level arrests and drug arrests. He was issued earlier this year some appearance tickets and didn’t come back to court, which unfortunately is something we see all too often. Also has some low-level arrests out of state,” Shae said.

In an internal memo sent Wednesday morning, Fox News Media CEO Suzanne Scott condemned the suspected arson as a “deliberate and brazen act of cowardice,” and announced that a new tree will be installed.

Watch a montage of comments from Fox News hosts above.