Democratic strategist Laura Fink called out Fox News host Brian Kilmeade for defending former President Donald Trump against the Jan. 6 Committee even though he claimed he wasn't.
Fox News host Howard Kurtz pointed out during a Sunday segment that Trump ally Roger Stone had been caught on video calling for violence before the Jan. 6 riot.
"Roger Stone was never an insider," Kilmeade insisted. "He didn't last a few weeks with the Trump campaign even though he was pushing Trump to run really since 2008. What he said about [the video] being a deep fake is hard to believe."
"It's clearly him making a bad decision to talk to a crew that he knew nothing about," he continued, "and say things that are totally irrational, which he had no control over. I'm never going to sit here and defend Roger Stone and his antics."
Kilmeade then pivoted to attack the Jan. 6 Committee for not presenting Trump's side of the controversy.
"I don't agree with Mr. Kilmeade that Roger Stone was not a Trump insider," Fink responded. "He absolutely was throughout the administration. And his calls for violence put those closer and closer to the president, so I think the substance of the issue is more important than the structure of how it was released."
Kilmeade said that he would "never" defend Trump's speech on Jan. 6.
"But I will say this," he added. "They are looking to tell one side of a story. Can you imagine if the impeachment after the Ukraine call was just what Democrats wanted to get out? It didn't mean what they were saying was inaccurate but there was no pushback from [Doug Collins] and others to say, listen, there's another side."
According to Kilmeade, the committee should present evidence showing that Trump was resigned to leaving the White House after losing the election.
"Brian is not defending Roger Stone for a reason," Fink pointed out. "No one is defending Roger Stone. And no one is defending President Trump on the airwaves. And I think that's why you don't see the other side presented is because Republicans are running away from this."
"There would be," Kilmeade protested.
"Where are the people that are defending Trump?" Fink asked. "Why are you the only one, Brian? I mean, I think there's a reason."
"I'm not — I'm not defending Trump," Kilmeade asserted.
"Jan. 6 is challenging," Fink remarked. "It's a dark day in American history and it's one that we cannot repeat. And so to say that there's two sides to Jan. 6, I think, is missing the point."
