Trump praises Gingrich for exchange with Fox host Kelly
In interview, House ex-speaker calls her ‘fascinated with sex.’
D o n a l d T r u m p i n t e r - rupted a promotion for his new hotel in Washington to shower praise on Newt Gingrich for confronting the Fox News host Megyn Kelly on Tuesday night, when the former House speaker said in an interview that she was “fascinated with sex” in her reporting on Trump’s treatment of women.
Speaking at a gold-gilded lectern at the Trump International Hotel on Pennsylvania Avenue on Wednesday, Trump pointed a finger toward Gingrich, who was in the audience at the hotel ribbon-cutting.
“Congratulations, Newt, on last night — that was an amazing interview,” Trump said. “We don’t play games, Newt, right? We don’t play games.”
Kelly has been a frequent target of Trump ever since she was a moderator at the first Republican primary debate in August 2015 and asked him about his past misogynistic comments.
The video of Kelly interviewing a hostile Gingrich went viral on social media within hours of airing.
During the exchange, Gingrich repeatedly rebuked Kelly for covering accusations from more than 10 women that Trump groped or sexually assaulted them.
“You are fascinated by sex, and you don’t care about public policy,” Gingrich said.
Kelly seemed taken aback, and chuckled: “Me? Really?”
Gingrich then tried to shift the discussion toward sexual assault accusations that have been made against former President Bill Clinton over the years. But when Kelly pointed out that Clinton is not running for president, Gingrich excoriated her.
He urged her to say, “Bill Clinton, sexual predator.” He went on: “I dare you. Say, ‘Bill Clinton, sexual predator.’”
Kelly said that she had covered those accusations as well. Eventually, she cut Gin- grich off, saying, “You can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker.”
A short while later, Dan Scavino Jr., Trump’s campaign social media director, posted on Twitter about the exchange.
Gingrich, a Fox News commentator, also went on Twitter on Wednesday, saying that this was an example of “media bias.” He told reporters covering the hotel ceremony that the exchange was merely part of “the business.”