Megyn Kelly and Donald Trump Are Friends Again: All It Took Was a Mutually Beneficial Hour-Long Primetime Special
There was a strange period of time when progressives found themselves cheering Megyn Kelly as a feminist hero.
She had, after all, taken on Donald Trump in a made-for-TV feud, and refused to bend to the pressure of hordes of pro-Trump fanatics who no doubt made her life a living hell once the Republican frontrunner targeted her as enemy number one.
For anyone who found themselves shaken by their newfound respect for the Fox News anchor, and torn between progressive idealism and a deep-seated hatred of Donald Trump, the world is once again spinning on its axis.
What was originally billed as a “showdown” with the Republican frontrunner—who called Kelly everything from “overrated” to “dopey” to “a bimbo” since she first pressed him on his long history of making disparaging comments against women— was really just a sit-down between two people who could really use access to each other if they hope to succeed in their separate, but entwined goals.
“Over your life Megyn, you’ve been called a lot worse,” Trump said when Kelly asked him about the barrage of insults he levied at her. “Isn’t that right? Wouldn’t you say?”
The explanation was apparently enough for Kelly, who spoke at length with Trump about his family history, their feud and his penchant for making offensive statements against political opponents, women, minorities, foreign leaders, foreign nations, etc., but who never broached a serious policy conversation.
But Kelly’s not a policy wonk. She wants to be the next Barbara Walters, mixed with a little Charlie Rose and dash of Oprah Winfrey. Which means one thing: she wants access. And after last night’s special, it looks like she got it.
At least one good thing came out of the hour-long sit-down. Instead of marveling at Kelly’s strength and resilience against the megalomaniacal Trump and his troves of adoring fans, we can turn our attention back to how her show regularly spews the same right-wing propaganda we see on every other primetime Fox show (think: “Jesus was a white man … he's a historical figure, that's a verifiable fact, as is Santa.”)
Megyn Kelly is no feminist hero. She may just be, as Trump once opined, a “lightweight journalist.”
