"Americans don't like the rape and incest thing": Fox & Friends wrestle with election failure

The hosts appeared surprised by the series of GOP defeats on Tuesday

By Gabriella Ferrigine

Staff Writer

Published November 8, 2023 12:36PM (EST)

"Fox & Friends" anchors Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)
"Fox & Friends" anchors Steve Doocy, Ainsley Earhardt and Brian Kilmeade. (John Lamparski/Getty Images)

The hosts of "Fox & Friends" were seemingly "surprised" to see the slew of abortion rights victories that emerged out of Tuesday's elections. Virginia Gov. Glenn Youngkin suffered a major blow, with Democrats winning full control of the state legislature and effectively quashing a proposed 15-week abortion ban, a result host Ainsley Earhardt said she didn't see coming. Host Brian Kilmeade acknowledged Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron's difficulty in handling questions about reproductive rights. Democrat Andy Beshear defeated Cameron to remain governor of the state.

“In Kentucky, they were running an ad with a 12-year-old girl saying I got pregnant from incest, and Daniel Cameron would make me have the baby,” Kilmeade said. “The Cameron camp never answered that ad. There was another one with the DA saying a nine-year-old, same situation, Daniel Cameron, would make me go through with it, and he had no answer for it.”

“You gotta talk directly to the people; you gotta give and take on some issues," proposed co-host Lawrence Jones during a discussion about polling differences between abortion and other hot-button issues. “It looks like a majority of Americans don’t like the rape and incest thing,” he added. “Donald Trump got a lot of pushback from the Republican base that he wasn’t strong enough even though he helped overturn Roe v. Wade with his appointment of judges. But it looks like he’s in the majority when it comes to American voters, and he’s not getting a ding when it comes to the national polling.”