Megyn Kelly—who made headlines for her tough questioning of Donald Trump during his first presidential debate—blasted the ABC News moderators for their fact-checking of the former president during Tuesday’s showdown against Kamala Harris.
The former Fox News host said after the debate that she was “disgusted” by David Muir and Linsey Davis for holding Trump to account during the debate and calling him out on his falsehoods. When Trump pushed a false claim that undocumented immigrants were abducting and eating pets in Springfield, Ohio, Muir quickly noted that the city manager said there have been no such reports. When the topic turned to abortion and Trump falsely accused Harris and her running mate, Tim Walz, of condoning “execution after birth,” Davis responded: “There is no state in this country where it is legal to kill a baby after it’s born.”
“I’m disgusted,” Kelly in a live video on her YouTube channel. “I’m ashamed of those moderators at ABC News... It was three against one on the debate stage this evening.”
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She continued: “Trump did the best he could under the circumstances, but it really was like three fighters in the ring pummeled one opponent. Trump tried to take them all on. He did as best as he could. He was thrown a few times to the point where he was unnecessarily defensive and he was getting angry—and so was I.”
Kelly accused Muir and Davis of fact-checking “anything” Trump said while going easy on Harris. She pushed an oft-repeated Trump talking point that the “head of ABC” is Harris’ “best friend.” Dana Walden, whom Harris has credited with playing matchmaker in her relationship with husband Doug Emhoff, is co-chairman of Disney Entertainment, which oversees ABC. “They did Dana Walden’s bidding tonight,” Kelly said.
“They are trying to steal this election,” she said. “They are openly working to sink Donald Trump.”
Trump and Kelly have long had a rockier relationship than the former president typically has with members of conservative media. In 2015, while moderating a Republican primary debate for Fox News, Kelly called out Trump for his misogynistic comments about women. “You call women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,” Kelly said.
Trump later responded by referencing Kelly’s menstrual cycle: “She had blood coming out of her eyes. Or blood coming out of her wherever,” Trump told Don Lemon, then of CNN.
Although Kelly said last year that the dispute between her and Trump was water “under the bridge”—Trump went on her show last September for an hour-long sitdown in which Kelly praised him for how he answered her debate question—Trump would go on to call her “nasty.”
“Megyn Kelly. May she rest in peace,” Trump quipped to audible laughter at a campaign event in Georgia in March. “She’s sort of making a career by pretending she likes me.”
