How flip-flopping on Trump made Megyn Kelly one of the 'most influential figures in right-wing media'

19 May

Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly at the 2023 Turning Point Action Conference in Palm Beach, Florida on July 15, 2023 (Gage Skidmore/Flickr)

During the United States' 2016 presidential election, then-Fox News host Megyn Kelly bitterly clashed with Donald Trump and his supporters. Kelly was inundated with death threats from Trump devotees, and she even needed an armed bodyguard for protection.

But like Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-South Carolina) and Vice President JD Vance, Kelly flip flopped and went from being a Trump critic to being a loyal supporter.

In an article published on May 19, The Guardian's David Smith describes Kelly's transition from Trump critic to Trump cheerleader.

"Kelly, 54, has become one of the most influential figures in right-wing media," Smith explains. "Her eponymous podcast moves with rare dexterity from heavyweight political interviews — such as the secretary of state, Marco Rubio, and director of national intelligence, Tulsi Gabbard — to topics such as Joe Biden’s cognitive decline to celebrity gossip about the likes of Halle Berry, Sean 'Diddy' Combs, Meghan Markle and the Kardashians.… This makes her one of the most prominent cheerleaders for Trump and shapers of his MAGA (Make America great again) agenda, most especially its hostility to immigrants and transgender rights."

Smith adds, "Kelly is even emerging as a rival to her former employer Fox News, which dominated the narratives of Trump’s first term in office."

Larry Jacobs, director of the University of Minnesota's Center for the Study of Politics and Governance, notes that Kelly has done a great deal of flip-flopping along the way.

Jacobs told The Guardian, "Megyn Kelly's various transformations can make you dizzy if you follow them. The days when she had credibility as a truth-seeker are over, and now, she's strictly in the business of following clicks. Her campaigning with Trump, including on the last night, confirms what the business model is. She is trying to establish herself as the preferred media outlet for the MAGA movement. She is demonstrating that even Fox is now vulnerable and is being picked apart by the podcasters who become the viewer choice."

Author David Litt, an ex-speechwriter for former President Barack Obama, told The Guardian, "The crux of Trump's argument was: I'm a bad guy, but you need me in the White House anyway. Nobody could speak to that argument — both Trump’s personal lack of character and, by endorsing him, say we need him anyway — better than Megyn Kelly. He knew that, and she knew that. They saw a moment of symbiosis."

Read David Smith's full article for The Guardian at this link.

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