O’Reilly, CNN should’ve done more for me: Kelly
Trump, Cruz set for interview
Fox News Channel’s Megyn Kelly is taking notes on who she feels could’ve been more supportive when she was attacked by Donald Trump. Fox’s Bill O’Reilly and CNN are both on her list.
Kelly, in an interview with Charlie Rose to air on CBS’ “Sunday Morning” this weekend, said she wished O’Reilly had done more to defend her when he interviewed Trump before a January debate that the Republican skipped because he wanted Kelly removed as a moderator. She also wishes CNN hadn’t aired portions of a Trump rally on the night of that debate.
Her remarks laid bare tension between Fox’s two top personalities. O’Reilly’s prime-time show has been the mostwatched on cable news for many years, but has been challenged recently in the ratings by Kelly, whose show airs directly after his.
The Republican presidential candidate has been badmouthing Kelly, mostly via Twitter, ever since he was taken aback by her tough question in an August debate on his comments about women.
Late Friday night, he tweeted: “Is it possible for @megynkelly to cover anyone but Donald Trump on her terrible show. She totally misrepresents my words and positions! BAD”.
In his interview, O’Reilly asked Trump to reconsider missing the Fox debate in Iowa, but it was noted by many that he didn’t rush to defend Kelly when Trump attacked her during the interview.
Kelly called it a “dark moment” and said she would have done more to defend O’Reilly if the positions had been switched.
“I think Bill did the best he’s capable of doing in those circumstances”, Kelly said, which Rose said was “damning with faint praise”.
During the Jan 28 debate, Trump held a fundraiser for veterans nearby in Iowa. CNN, which has seen its ratings soar with nearly full-time campaign coverage, aired some of that rally and Kelly said the network shouldn’t have.
“There should have been a moment of solidarity among journalists that night to say, ‘We will not allow ourselves to be bullied by a presidential front runner, even one as powerful and as ahead in the polls at that point as Trump was’”, Kelly said. “‘This is about journalism and the First Amendment, and we will put the debate moderator out on the stage that we think is appropriate.’ And I think it’s a slippery slope when we don’t stand shoulder to shoulder in those moments”.
CNN declined to comment on her remarks.
Kelly said she understood the difficult position that the feud with Trump put her bosses at Fox News. As angry as Fox might be that one of its personalities was being attacked, they could not ban Trump from the network.
Fox News Channel anchor Sean Hannity will interview Donald Trump on Monday as part of a series of conversations with the Republican candidates for President across the evening. All three interviews will be done in front of a live audience.
Greta Van Susteren will interview Ohio Gov John Kasich at 7:00 pm on “On the Record with Greta Van Susteren” after a campaign event in Huntington, NY ahead of the state’s primary. Kasich will take questions from Van Susteren and supporters around New York’s Long Island.
Bill O’Reilly will hold forth with analysis and commentary on “The O’Reilly Factor” at 8:00 pm.
Megyn Kelly’s “The Kelly File” will feature a full hour at 9:00 pm with Sen Ted Cruz, on the road in Madison, Wis.
As President Obama pushes the Senate to hold a hearing on his choice for the Supreme Court, Merrick Garland, a new HBO movie, airing April 16, resurrects one of the most controversial of all confirmation battles, that of Justice Clarence Thomas.
On Thursday, Kerry Washington joined her real-life counterpart in the movie, Anita Hill, for a premiere screening on the Paramount lot. Thomas’s 1991 confirmation appeared to be sailing through the Senate, until Hill, a law professor, gave 11th hour testimony to the male-only Judiciary Committee alleging that the Supreme Court nominee had made unwanted advances and sexually graphic remarks when they previously worked together.
Thomas, played by Wendell Pierce, was confirmed, but the outrage over the hearings is what led the next year to the Year of the Woman, said Sen Barbara Boxer (D-California), who attended the screenings. Four women were elected in 1992, including Boxer and Dianne Feinstein in California.