Fox’s Brian Kilmeade Rips Nicholas Kristof for Writing ‘Some Palestinian Fantasy’ for NYT: ‘Trying to Skew the World Against Israel’

Fox News host Brian Kilmeade ripped into New York Times scribe Nicholas Kristof on Monday morning’s Fox & Friends, saying he could lose his job for buying into “some Palestinian fantasy” about prisoner treatment by Israel.

The criticism came as the curvy couch described Democrats who have failed to denounce anti-Semitism, with Kilmeade warning the issue will come up in the 2026 midterms.

At one point, Kilmeade brought up Kristof, who wrote a harrowing account of detainees sexually abused and raped while detained by Israel last week in a Times opinion piece entitled, “The Silence That Meets the Rape of Palestinians.”

In one case, Kristof wrote of one detainee who alleged he had been sexually abused in an area where other prisoners had suffered similar treatment, claiming he “found other people’s vomit, blood and broken teeth crushed into his skin.”

Another account reported by Kristof included allegations that a prisoner was “penetrated” by a dog while in Israeli custody.

The article sparked worldwide backlash, including from the Israeli Foreign Ministry, which initially called the story “one of the worst blood libels ever to appear in the modern press” while announcing it was suing The Times.

Among the critics was Kilmeade, who said Monday: “Nicholas Kristof, widely condemned by going with some Palestinian fantasy about what took place in Gaza. Could lose his job — even with The New York Times — because he’s trying to skew the world against Israel.”

Read the conversation below:

BRIAN KILMEADE: You watch, when the debates happen after the ’26 midterms. You know how they used to talk there, everything was about green energy? “Do you promise to get rid of oil and gas. Yes, I do and all that. That is not going to be there. I don’t think. They are going to lead with do you promise not to take money from AIPAC. Will you eliminate weapons? That’s going to be the topic, and you’re gonna say, ‘What country are we in?’ How can we abandon the democracy that we helped found through the UN Charter in the 1940s after their almost elimination as a religion after World War II. Just keep a steady hand. Do not be manipulated by some of the crap that you see. Because it’s almost all false. Including that whole “there was genocide in Gaza.” Take a side. Nicholas Kristof, widely condemned by going with some Palestinian fantasy about what took place in Gaza, could lose his job — even with the New York Times — because he’s trying to skew the world against Israel.

AINSLEY EARHARDT: Well, where do you go if you’re Jewish and you’re in the Democratic Party now?

KILMEADE: Why would you stay?

EARHARDT: I don’t understand. I don’t know. Some of them are leaving, but many of them stay. I mean, Bill Maher, where does he stand?

KILMEADE: He is pro-Israel.

EARHARDT: He’s definitely pro-Israel.

KILMEADE: And he’s gonna vote Democrat.

EARHARDT: But he’s a Democrat. So, I’m just wondering. The Republicans support Israel. We are pro-Israel. Republicans love Israel. We’re even taught in our churches to love Israel. So I don’t understand if you are a Democrat, I mean, if you’re Jewish, why you would vote for a Democrat.

KILMEADE: Because there is a section of the podcast world on the right that is not pro-Israel. They seem to be getting some financial support for doing so.

The Times has stood by Kristof and the story, calling it a “deeply reported piece of opinion journalism” and adding that “details were extensively fact-checked.”

Watch above via Fox News.

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