Brian Kilmeade says he was ‘right’ about Jacksonville being a ‘mess’

Does Brian Kilmeade have a problem with #JAX? Image via Fox News Channel.

A Fox News personality isn’t backing down from pejorative comments he’s made about Jacksonville, saying he was “right” about the city’s deterioration, dilapidation and disrepair, and that the city needs to spend big to fix it.

Brian Kilmeade, who has criticized the Northeast Florida metropolis on more than one occasion in recent weeks, doubled down on his unfriendly critique on Thursday’s Fox & Friends.

“Basically, I’m right. And they’ve got to put money into it, but they have plans on the books,” Kilmeade said.

Kilmeade, who owns a house in Ponte Vedra, was addressing recent pitches made by Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry for Elon Musk to move Twitter to the city. Kilmeade, for whatever reason, suggested Musk move his Tesla car company to the city instead.

“If he moved Tesla to Jacksonville, that could solve two problems,” Kilmeade contended. “Business would surround them, (helping) that city reach its potential.”

The comments clearly indicate no matter how vocal the pushback, the host won’t move on from his harsh appraisal of the city.

It all started in March, when Kilmeade said the city needed a “rebuild” on a previous episode of Fox & Friends.

“The city of Jacksonville’s got such great potential. They’ve got these bridges. Beautiful scenery. They’ve got to rebuild that city,” Kilmeade said.

“It’s just a mess. The city needs to be revitalized. It has all this potential, overlooking the water,” he added.

Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry eventually engaged, and the storyline progressed through April.

Kilmeade blasted Curry and Jacksonville on his radio show soon afterward.

“So this Mayor gets all offended because he’s got projects in the works and it’s come a long way. It doesn’t mean it’s there. It doesn’t mean the city hasn’t been let down,” Kilmeade said.

The ongoing back-and-forth between the Fox host and Jacksonville’s Republican Mayor found its way onto national television, with Kilmeade doing a pre-taped interview to presumably begin the process of reconciliation.

In that interview, Curry said Kilmeade was “spot on” and admitted to “unfulfilled potential” downtown, blaming some of it on decisions made before his time and other parts of it on decisions made by the current City Council.