Tim Kaine breaks with Democrats over claims Karmelo Anthony verdict was racist

Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia broke with fellow Democrats Thursday, saying he has a “hard time understanding” claims that the guilty verdict in Karmelo Anthony’s murder trial was racially motivated — remarks that put him at odds with Rep. Jasmine Crockett of Texas, who has publicly blamed racism for the outcome.

“I have a hard time understanding why they would say that,” Mr. Kaine told Fox News Digital when asked about claims from some Democrats that the verdict was unfair or racially charged. When pressed further, he repeated: “I know what they’re saying, but I have a hard time understanding.”

The Virginia Democrat’s comments came days after protests and online criticism followed Tuesday’s verdict. Anthony, 19, was sentenced to 35 years in prison after a Collin County, Texas, jury found him guilty of intentionally stabbing and murdering 17-year-old Austin Metcalf during a high school track meet in Frisco in April 2025. The jury, which deliberated for roughly three hours, rejected Anthony’s claim of self-defense.

Ms. Crockett had taken to her podcast, “Clock It with Crockett,” hours after the verdict to criticize the racial composition of the jury and question whether the knife Anthony used could be considered a deadly weapon. She claimed all the jurors were white — a characterization that sources close to the trial disputed, telling Fox News Digital that three of the 12 jurors were racial minorities, including Asian and Hispanic members.

On the podcast, Ms. Crockett held her fingers close together while questioning the weapon’s size.

“Well, I would argue the size of it alone, you wouldn’t even think it’s a deadly weapon,” she said. The actual weapon, as established at trial, was a semi-serrated, five-inch pocket knife that pierced Metcalf’s heart.

Ms. Crockett also said that if she were in Anthony’s position during the altercation, she would have done the same thing in self-defense — mischaracterizing Metcalf’s size in the process. She described a hypothetical attacker as 300 pounds; Metcalf was listed at 6 feet tall and 200 pounds.

She also said she could “guarantee” Anthony would not have been convicted had he been white.

“If a white boy would have said that they were afraid of a black boy, something tells me that that jury that didn’t have any black people on it, they would have believed him,” she said.

Ms. Crockett, who lost a Democratic primary bid for Senate in Texas earlier this year, will leave Congress when her term expires at year’s end.