For at least 12 seconds on Tuesday, Fox News host Brian Kilmeade took domestic violence “seriously,” but refused to apologize for joking that NFL player Ray Rice’s wife should learn to “take the stairs” after she was punched in an elevator.

Following the Monday release of elevator surveillance video showing Rice punching out his then-girlfriend, Kilmeade and the hosts of Fox & Friends turned the incident into a joke.

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“I think the message is take the stairs,” Kilmeade quipped.

“The message is, when you’re in an elevator, there’s a camera,” co-host Steve Doocy opined.

After the hosts were criticized for making light of violence against women, Kilmeade decided to spend about 12 second addressing the controversy on Tuesday’s show.

“Comments we made during this story yesterday made some feel like we were taking the situation too lightly,” the Fox News host insisted, appearing to read off of a teleprompter. “We are not. We were not.”

“Domestic abuse is a very serious issue to us I can assure you.”

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Watch the video below from Fox News’ Fox & Friends, broadcast Sept. 9, 2014.