Megyn Kelly on Donald Trump: ‘I Won’t Apologize for Good Journalism’
Fox News host Megyn Kelly refuses to apologize for her sharp line of questioning geared at Donald Trump during last week’s GOP debate. “Trump, who is the frontrunner, will not apologize, and I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism,” Kelly said during the intro to her show, The Kelly File, on Monday, as Variety reports. “So I’ll continue doing my job without fear or favor…and Mr. Trump, I suspect, will continue with what has been a successful campaign thus far. This is a tough business, and it’s time now to move forward.”
The journalist’s comments follow heated exchanges with Trump during Thursday’s debate, during which moderator Kelly grilled the real estate mogul on his history of demeaning comments toward women. “You’ve called women you don’t like fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals,” Kelly said. “Does that sound like the temperament of a man we should elect as president?”
“I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably not be based on the way you have treated me,” Trump told the moderator. “But I wouldn’t do that.” But his temperament changed in the days following the debate, as he re-tweeted a spree of anti-Kelly/anti-Fox News remarks and issued a controversial statement – deemed by many critics as misogynist – during an interview with CNN’s Don Lemon. “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her…wherever,” Trump said.
Now the GOP hopeful appears to have made amends with the network and its president, Roger Ailes. “Roger Ailes just called,” Trump tweeted Monday. “He is a great guy & assures me that ‘Trump’ will be treated fairly on @FoxNews. His word is always good!”
“Donald Trump and I spoke today,” Ailes said in a statement obtained by CNNMoney. “We discussed our concerns, and I again expressed my confidence in Megyn Kelly. She is a brilliant journalist, and I support her 100 percent…I assured him that we will continue to cover this campaign with fairness and balance. We had a blunt but cordial conversation, and the air has been cleared.”
To make the hatchet-burying official, Trump will appear on two Fox News programs, Fox & Friends and Hannity, on Tuesday.