Megyn Kelly was a fan favorite with conservatives when she hosted her top-rated nighttime show on Fox News. Her popularity dropped like a lead balloon, however, when Kelly started a war with then-candidate for president, Donald J. Trump, during his first Republican debate performance on August 6, 2015.
In what appeared to be a personal beef with the wildly popular Republican candidate for President, Megyn Kelly confused and startled many of her supporters when she attacked President Trump over remarks he allegedly made about women. Trump set the record straight with Kelly, saying, “Only Rosie O’Donnell.” Kelly continued, unabated, calling him “part of the war on women.” Trump responded by telling her that one of the biggest problems we have in America is “political correctness.” The audience went wild, showing their support for Trump.
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In January 2017, Megyn Kelly left Fox News for NBC, who wooed her away with a massive salary. Less than a year after she was hired, Kelly was fired by NBC in one of the network’s costliest mistakes. Megyn Kelly is allegedly looking to get back to work in the news business.
On Monday night, during a discussion about CNN’s Mark Zucker’s time at NBC, Tucker Carlson announced that Megyn Kelly will be appearing on his “Tucker Carlson Tonight” show on Wednesday night.
“Wednesday night, two nights from now, someone who knows an awful lot about NBC and is making her first TV appearance since parting ways with that channel nearly a year ago. Megyn Kelly will join us as a guest on this program for her first interview. She’s got a lot to say,” Carlson told his viewers, “and we hope you’ll watch.”
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Rumors are swirling about a possible return to Fox News for Kelly. But are Fox News viewers ready to forgive her for her efforts to destroy then-candidate Trump in 2015?
The Washington Examiner reports that Kelly wants to do what she was doing before — to interview and debate big names in politics, favoring neither Republicans nor Democrats. She was good at it at Fox News and her confrontation with then-candidate Donald Trump during a 2015 Republican primary debate was one of the most memorable moments of the campaign. It was probably the moment that turned Trump into the frontrunner for the party’s nomination.
The problem for Kelly is that she tried to be something she’s not, a fact she’s aware of, according to the person close to her. She’s not Katie Couric, and her stint as a daytime host at NBC proved it. She apologized in October after questioning whether it was OK to wear costumes of other races during Halloween, and then she was let go anyway, though Steve Burke, NBC’s top executive, took responsibility for her show’s flat performance. He told Variety in January that Kelly was “a huge talent” and that her morning program was “the wrong time of day for her.”
A prime time producer at Fox told me, though, that it’s probably not in the cards for her — at least not there. “She’s viewed as damaged goods,” they said, adding that Fox executives like their current programming lineup.
“Megyn Kelly’s forthcoming guest appearance on Tucker Carlson Tonight was coordinated weeks ago and is a one-time occurrence,” Fox News said in a statement to The Hill. “Any future programming changes we are considering do not involve her.”
