As most of you know by now, I generally get my news online and from MSNBC. I like the discussions on Chris Hayes and Rachel Maddow’s evening shows, and Hayes had an interesting discussion of the Donald Trump situation last night. The theory going around is that Fox News really did make the decision to try to “take down” Trump during last week’s debate, but it wasn’t just a decision made by Megyn Kelly alone, it came from up top, meaning Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes signed off on it. As in, Ailes believes Trump has outlived his usefulness to the Republican cause and wanted Trump kneecapped for the good of the GOP.
Following the debate and Trump’s subsequent hissy fits on every network besides Fox News, Roger Ailes finally called Donald Trump. Trump tweeted about it yesterday, writing: “Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy & assures me that ‘Trump’ will be treated fairly on @FoxNews. His word is always good!” Ailes also released a statement, saying:
“Donald Trump and I spoke today. 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.”
Trump is also scheduled to reappear on Fox News for interviews today, so there you go. As for Megyn Kelly, she saved her comments for her primetime show (smart) and she basically said she’s not going to apologize to Donald Trump or anyone else for being a journalist.
“Apparently Mr. Trump thought the question was unfair and I was attacking him. I felt he was asked a tough but fair question. We agree to disagree.”
Kelly, who called Trump an “interesting man that has captured the attention of the electorate,” decided not to respond to personal attacks he’d lodged against her, saying, “I certainly will not apologize for doing good journalism, so I’ll continue doing my job without fear or favor.. Mr. Trump, I expect, will continue with what has been a successful campaign so far. This is a tough business and I think it’s time now to move forward.”
That’s pretty much the best way to handle it. She gets points for “journalism” and not being baited into personally attacking Trump in response to his many personal attacks on her. I also feel that part of this wasn’t her call – Fox News is going to stand by her, but they also need Trump to bring in the ratings and now Trump will just be giving his interviews to Hannity and anyone else besides Kelly.
Photos courtesy of WENN.
How is Ivanka Trump not throttling her father? So embarrassing.
If i was her i’d be looking into getting him signed into a care home – he’s barking mad!
She wants her inheritance. And she probably shares his views.
Don’t care for Trump, but Ms Kelly could have asked more significant questions such as “IF ISIS beheaded anyone on your watch, what would be your response” Just my opinion, but truly not a fan of Ms Kelly. would have preferred more questions about foreign policy. PEACE
^^^This…x1000. I’m not a fan of either one, but I needed more than what I got! Not sure “doing good journalism” is a proper sentence either, but I could be wrong.
Her handling of this is elegant. Well played, Ms. Kelly!
Yes, well and professionally done but she should have stopped short of labeling her own work “good”
I didn’t take that badly – if she were a man, I wonder if it would even be noticed. I took it to mean that she was practicing her craft as it should be practiced – without fear or favor.
But it was with favor, toward another candidate.
Or “journalism.” Sorry.
I guess the long and short of it is that she behaved better than I expected she would. As a former print reporter and current freelance journalist/writer, my expectations of anyone working for Fox aren’t particularly high. But she handled herself way more professionally than I would have expected, given what of her I’d seen before this incident.
Megyn Kelly need not worry. She will never have to apologize for good journalism.
@Megan, haha!
Where were all of these “concern trolls” in 2007 when Rosie was being called a pig by Trump??? Isn’t it convenient that this concerned members of the GOP were APPLAUDING this man’s takedown of Rosie in 2007. They are duplicitous trolls who only practice their “concern” when it serves them in their politically convenient takedown of an anti-establishment GOP candidate such as Trump.
Where were these concern trolls when JEB and MARCO supported Scarlet Letter laws in Florida, requiring women to name all of their sex partners in the newspaper????
Good journalism? Yeah….that’s not journalism. Moderating a “debate” isn’t journalism.
That being said, her argument should have been that if Trump didn’t like his own words being repeated back to him, he shouldn’t have said them. If they were enough to get HIM mad, why should the rest of society not be mad also? This is why personal accountability is so important. If he can’t even face himself, how is he going to face other nation leaders?
She asked a tough question to a presidential candidate when many “journalists” only ask easy questions to get invited back to the press room. That, in addition to hosting her own show each week day makes her a journalist.
And I agree with your statement on Trump.
Hosting a show makes no one a journalist. Is Andy Cohen a journalist? What about Bill O’Reilly? What about Nancy Grace? Similar tactic here.
NOT a journalist. She just plays one on TV.
Exactly! How can anyone take him seriously or trust him to make
serious decisions in difficult circumstances when he is like this?
His manner of dealing with anything is so against what a President should be.
I honestly think the attacks he made based upon her being on her period were nothing compared to the fact that the rest of the candidates were up there talking about stripping Planned Parenthood of funding and restricting abortion rights
Cat that ate the orange headed canary, by sic of Murdoch.
Yeah, listen in this situation Trump is an a**hole for sure.
But I wonder why Kelley wasn’t “doing good journalism” when she interviewed the Duggars. That was a softball interview where Kelley stated falsehoods like they were facts.
SMH.
I should correct it ‘with sic by Ailes’. She didn’t attempt to ask other candidates guilty of this type of BS. I wrote something on yesterdays article this AM, and don’t feel like rewriting it. Kiddo says:
August 11, 2015 at 7:20 am
http://www.celebitchy.com/441570/donald_trump_refuses_to_apologize_to_megyn_kelly_thinks_she_should_apologize/#comments
This woman isn’t a journalist. She is a talking head. She says what Fox wants her to. I remember when she stated emphatically that both Santa Claus & Jesus were white. Trump isn’t a politican or electable
The Republicans are coming very close to being stuck with this guy as their nominee….the terror they must feel considering that possibility. I’m enjoying it a little too much.
I just listened to Dan Savage’s podcast this morning and his intro was on the debate. As appalling as Donald Trump is we should be just as appalled that Scott Walker opposes abortion even in cases where the life of the mother is threatened, and that Marco Rubio doesn’t support an exemption for rape or incest. And Megyn Kelly failed in the debate to actually question the ‘serious’ candidates on that.
Seriously Trump is a pig but his sexism is only offensive to Republicans because he attacked one of their own in a crass way.
‘That black girl is no saint’ ‘Santa and God are White’ quotes from a ‘good’ journalist. She was reading the question Roger Ailes wanted her to read.
Julia, bravo!! 🙂
Remember kids, Santa is white.
Megyn was not being a journalist, she was parroting whatever Roger Ailes told her to say. They way everyone on Fox News does.
Just because Trump is the bigger douchebag in this instance it does not reduce the general doucheyness of Megyn.
This. Team Nobody.
I agree.
At least he wears his on his sleeve. They are the reverse sides of a coin. Kelly declaring her ‘good’ journalism is every bit the narcissistic self-congratulatory schtick as done by Trump. Neither of them are ‘good’.
Agreed Kiddo. He says out loud, in the most simple terms possible ( because big words are hard) all the crap fox news viewers believe with all their hearts.
It’s as if he is the anthropomorphic personification of every fox new dog whistle.
Fox New helped to create this monster, now they are trying to figure out how to slay it.
“Fox New helped to create this monster, now they are trying to figure out how to slay it.”
This is it, exactly. Well said.
Now she knows how it feels to be attacked by fools for being a “minority”!
Agree. Fox is simply trying to innoculate, spin, control the narrative and to protect the brand. No more. No less.
Exactly, I can’t get behind either one of these two. I’ve always found her to be just another smug, smarmy newsbot parroting the Ailes line, and Trump is of course a loud-mouth ego-tripper–let them claw it out in a cage match for all I care.
It disturbs me so deeply, and in so many ways, that Donald Trump has made it this far. It disturbs me that the republican party think the American people are stupid enough to be distracted by this farce of a sideshow, and it disturbs me even more that some of them actually are.
So many Americans love this guy. It’s a very serious possibility that he will be president. I’m baffled…but it’s very real.
He will never be President but he is striking nerves because a lot of people are just fed up. I like him because he forced the conversations that no one else would touch.
Me, too, Shambles. I actually know people (not people I hang out with, but still) who like him and think he “tells it like it is.” Some of them are women, which is even more puzzling to me. It’s frightening. The Republican Party needs to make some tough decisions about who they are. I have said in past that I know and love pretty many people who are Republican, and none of them seem compatible to me with these Duggar-Huckabee Christian right hypocrites or Donald Trump misogynist racist idiots or Scott Walker let the mother die just save the baby then take away any social programs to help it once it’s born morons. I know kicking these people out would probably cost the Republicans a lot of voters, but I think they would gain some middle of the road people who just can’t get with the ultra-conservative program. Until they do, I just cannot in good conscience vote Republican. And I loathe Hillary, so I really just don’t have anywhere to go unless another Democrat overtakes Hillary.
As a conservative Republican, I really really doubt that Trump is going to make it as the presidential candidate. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, but there it is. The people polled who like him must be from the Jerry Springer electorate, because every speech, every debate is like watching bad reality TV where unhinged people go at each other and the audience loves it.
Hillary…. I’m not even going to go there. She belongs in jail.
I’m with @GoodNames and@Crumpet. I truly believe Trump won’t get near the presidency. He’s ust a spoiler who has outlived his usefulness.He is disgusting and gross, but he has always been thus. On the other hand, the thought of H.Clinton gives me chills.And not the good kind.
I’m a die hard democrat and I will NEVER vote for HIllary, unless Bernie makes it I will be voting for Trump. I think he is much more liberal than he appears. He used to be a democrat FPS
jess… “die hard democrat” voting for a racist sexist pig? LOL that makes sense.
So Scott Walker, you’re willing to let the Missus die in order to save Scott Jr? This is the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard.
The Republicans are a joke. Mr. Canada is a close second to Trump. Why are people even considering Mr. Canada aka Mr. Magoo?
+1000
Like you guys, I doubt he’ll make it anywhere near the White House, but the fact that this little game even exists just makes me physically ill. The fact that this odious man has been given a platform to make a lot of noise so that people don’t actually think or ask questions is disgusting to me, and a true indication of how totally broken our political system is. I’d like to think that the men who cried “give me liberty or give me death,” and, “we hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal, and are endowed with certain inalienable rights…” would feel sick too, but there’s this jaded voice in the back of my mind that wonders whether it’s always just been games like this, and if that’s the way it’s always going to be. But as a young adult, I have to have hope that someday it will get better, even if that means some kind of crazy, radical change that turns life as we know it upside down. Sigh… Anyway.
If Trump somehow does get elected, I’m out. I’m willing to sacrifice a few much-wanted tattoos so I can put that money towards a shack in Aruba, or something. But I’m really hoping Bernie can bust it out, so it doesn’t come to that.
Oh Megyn, you have nothing to apologize for.
Going harder on Trump than than the other candidates is going to backfire in a big way. It’s no secret that Fox News panders to the Republican Party and the Republican Party is mortified at the thought of having Trump as their presidential candidate, but constantly bringing up his loud mouth blunders just makes him look like the underdog under attack and the public loves that. I’m even starting to root for him a bit because his blunt answers are such a refreshing change from the typical political bs. But I’m Canadian, so I’m not all that invested in it… MK was IMO obviously told to go hard on Trump and try and make him look bad. It backfired. They need a new strategy.
She was hard on Don because Fox favors Jeb. They went easy on Bush.
If donald trump became president of th usa then id be looking for one of those one way tickets to mars – are they still available?
Lol. I hear ya. But there’s no way he’ll be elected.
The bottom line is I would vote for the Donald over Jeb Bush or any other candidate standing on that stage. And that is a horrid thing to admit! However I am a moderate and neither party right now cares about people like me, the Democrats bow to the ultra liberal and the Republicans bow to the ultra conservatives and both parties will do whatever the Lobbyist pay them to do. I am not looking forward to this god awful election.
The democrats have not been liberal since Jimmy Carter. Both parties shifted to the right with Clinton, the republicans to the extreme. Bill Clinton and Obama would have qualified for the moderate republican, in past years. They are both corporatists, as is Hillary.
Seriously. I’m always floored when I read people saying that Dems “bow to the ultra liberals.”
Are we living in the same country?
Hell, ultra-liberals are rarely represented in Congress or anywhere in our government. The closest I’ve seen to ultra-Lib is Elizabeth Warren and Bern of course is in the same politically-liberal sphere.
Wish that both would be more vocal about racism, especially Sanders. Warren has had her impassioned please here and there: http://www.rawstory.com/2015/07/black-lives-matter-elizabeth-warren-lashes-out-at-racism-and-republicans-who-cower-at-donald-trump/
Dawn, check out Bernie Sanders; he does not have a SuperPAC nor does he accept corporate donations. (Sorry for plugging Bernie guys, but I feel like he’s the only thing standing between the rest of the world and the United States dragging us into a climate change catastrophe and a bunch of wars if the next president is Hillary or a Republican.)
Agree completely. Do not stop plugging.
#feelthebern
Love Bernie! Volunteer for him, give $$ if possible! #feelthebern
^^^^ Exactly this. I’m right with you!
Doing “Good Journalism” and Fox News don’t really go hand in hand, do they?
Donald Trump fits in exactly with the GOP. Sure, he has perma duck lips, a limited vocabulary, and roadkill glued to his head; he doesn’t fit the polished chrome robot mold of a typical presidential candidate. However, take away his posturing and ridiculous, self-absorbed “I’m a millionaire!” chest thumping, and he is the perfect representative of the Republican party: zero support for women, immigrants, people of colour, children, the poor, the environment, world peace, you name it. Donald Trump leading the GOP is exactly what the phrase chickens coming home to roost is intended to describe; the party has been moving more to the right and into extremism for over thirty years, and ladies and gentlemen, here’s the result.
Agree 100%. Pot, meet Kettle.
Go Kelly..
Ok, so when you said you loved Hillary, you were just torturing me, right? Or do you like FOX news and Hillary both? Which is your perfect right, I’m just desperate to know. Lol
This is not an important issue, but can someone explain to me why male journalists or TV reporters wear business suits and most female equivalents dress like they’re going to a cocktail party? I don’t get it. Why don’t they wear business attire? It look so stupid – the extensions, the sparkly earrings, the sequined dresses. Get a grip.
GNAT, I think the same thing when I see female reporters or commentators when my husband hogs the tv to watch sports. (Mind you as a man I don’t want to be prescriptive.) I work for a nonprofit organization and a church, so I have no idea if this is a common standard of dressing elsewhere too, in corporate offices or workplaces where more professional dress is required.
Same reason why none of them are unattractive. Because they’re not merely journalists, they’re decoration. There are a few exceptions but mostly, these days, even the news anchors and journalists need to look all shiny and as if they’ve just jumped off of the pages of Elle.
In the end the damage has already been done. Among the’Santa is White’ crowd (you know the same crowd Megyn and Fox frantically cater to) they’re in love with Donald.
Other than a few of the candidates I didn’t see anyone conservative step in to defend Megyn on the right side of things beyond Erickson. Most of the outrage is from liberals and independents. Trump has got the fanatics wrapped around his little finger which splinters the conservative base in half or more.
They’re going to play it more carefully from now on, of course they don’t love Trump but based on #BimboBackfire many of their viewers do and they’ll turn on Megyn sooner than on Trump. I’ve already seen dozens of women using Trump’s comments about blood as an example of that dreaded feminism we’re all crowing so hard for.
They don’t agree to disagree, Donald Trump most certainly does not agree. Have your moment, Megyn, but get a firm hold of your catchphrases first; smug isn’t as effective when your misuse the language.
Do we really want this idiot appointing Supreme Court nominees?
He’ll appoint them according to how hot they look in a tight dress. Sorry but I’ve watched enough episodes of the Apprentice to know where the train of thought leads to. I watch that show to snicker over how dumb people are.
They’re both frigging awful and are absolutely marinating in this donnybrook. Kelly cares about Kelly and if one finds himself in the crosshairs of her sympathy it’s because his end of the Venn Diagram happened to intersect with her mirror. Trump is simply Satan’s Cabana Boy, the Devil’s Ganymede. Please get these self-congratulatory, insincere brainwave assassins far away from influence and human memory. The good ol’ Blonde, White and Orange? No, thanks.
It was NOT good journalism….it was good TV.
Donald is a douche bag of the highest order, but Fox News is worse IMO. We ALL know Donald is a blowhard, but Fox News is ANYTHING but fair and balanced. They wanted raitings and controversy and they got it.
Spare me Fox. You and your fellow Repubs want to take away WOMENS RIGHTS…and to me….there ain’t NOTHING worse than that in 2015!
Trump can go kick rocks, but so can Megyn Kelly and FOX. Pfffffft!
Megyn Kelly wasn’t even FOR extended maternity leave until SHE needed it. Grrrrrrrrr! Bye shill!!!
Meghan Kelly does a lot of things. “Good Journalism” is NOT one of them.
Of course Megyn! You are great. Lol. You just pick and choose which interviews to get down to the nitty gritty with. As with all media today.
Dear Megyn,
If you ever do good journalism, we will not expect you to apologize.
Plus…she went SOFT on The Duggars. That was flat out an endorsement of that lifestyle. IMO. You LOSE Megyn. You endorsed that and then wanna get on Trump? (Rightfully so, but YOU are not one to ask it and judge!) Why not ask Huckabee why he defended that family, who never helped those sexually abused children? huh? You are a disgrace to women everywhere! Shame on you! Fox is even sicker because of YOU! I hope you don’t sleep well. Shame on you!