(The Hill) — Fox News host Brian Kilmeade issued an apology on Sunday over a remark he made earlier this month about homeless people and crime on the air.

Kilmeade made the comment during a discussion on Wednesday’s edition of “Fox and Friends” about the murder of 23-year-old Iryna Zarutska, a case that has become a flashpoint for Republicans and President Donald Trump’s efforts to crack down on crime.

After Fox host Lawrence Jones said of the homeless population, “a lot of them don’t want to take the programs or get the help that is necessary, you can’t give them a choice. Either you take the resources that we’re gonna give you, or you’re going to be locked up in jail.”

“Or involuntary lethal injection,” Kilmeade responded. “Just kill ’em.”

On Sunday, Kilmeade apologized on air for the remark.

“In the morning, we were discussing the murder of Iryna Zarutska in Charlotte, North Carolina and how to stop these kinds of attacks by homeless, mentally ill assailants, including institutionalizing or jailing such people so they cannot attack again,” he said. “Now, during that discussion, I wrongly said they should get lethal injections. I apologize for that extremely callous remark.”

The morning show and radio host said he is “obviously aware that not all mentally ill, homeless people act as the perpetrator did in North Carolina and that so many homeless people deserve our empathy and compassion.”

Kilmeade is a leading host on Fox and has been with the network since the late 1990s.