Megyn Kelly: Fox News ‘was not without sin’ in its coverage of the 2016 election
Fox News host Megyn Kelly told the Washington Post in an interview published Monday that her network was “not without sin” in its coverage of the 2016 election.
She said that few members of the media challenged President-elect Donald Trump as a candidate, suggesting that some didn’t take him seriously while others simply sought the ratings coverage of the candidate brought.
Kelly, who is promoting her new book “Settle for More,” told the Post that during the primary season “very few people were offering any critical Trump coverage, virtually anywhere”:
It was stunning to me because I thought — and I’m not going to condemn my brethren in the news media specifically. I don’t want to call anybody out specifically — but what I’m saying is, we would look across the landscape to see whether anybody was meaningfully challenging him and we’d be a long time lookin’. For the reason I write in the book, because people were either entertained by him, didn’t perceive him as a serious candidate or were just enjoying the ratings that Trump brought.
Kelly criticized coverage of Trump rallies in particular.
“And in particular, some of these folks who put on his campaign rallies … not a policy speech, just rallies,” she said. “Which we never would have done to Scott Walker or Hillary Clinton. Ever. And to me that seemed unfair to the other candidates and wrongheaded journalistically.”
The Post’s interviewer asked Kelly if that criticism “applies to colleagues at your own network.”
“Well, listen, Fox was not without sin in that department either,” Kelly replied. “I can say that on ‘The Kelly File,’ we did not do that. And listen, it was not the easiest thing to do because Trump rates. You pop up that campaign rally, you could let it roll for an hour and your ratings would shoot through the roof. Easy, done. Huge number … your average for the month.”
During the interview, Kelly also praised several of her Fox colleagues including her former co-anchor Bill Hemmer, whom she called “the ultimate gentleman,” and Tucker Carlson, host of “Tucker Carlson Tonight,” whom she called “a huge talent.”
Kelly is currently weighing her options for when her contract expires with Fox next year but has yet to elaborate on her plans other than to say she wants to spend more time with her young children.
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