Former Fox News star Megyn Kelly, host of the Megyn Kelly Show, criticized Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) for failing to sit down for an interview on the show, speculating that he is “afraid” and lambasting many of her colleagues in the field of journalism for putting their desire to get chummy with potential presidential candidates over their job to represent their audience and seek the truth.
In a clip shared Monday, Kelly revealed that her team has asked DeSantis to come on her show, but he “has not said yes.”
“I find that very interesting. You know, I love Piers Morgan. He’s a pal of mine. But why would you go sit with the British guy and not come on the show?” Kelly said, speculating the true reason for it.
“I would venture to say he’s afraid. I’m just gonna put out there he’s afraid because he knows the kind of interview that I would give him. He’s not going to get a pass. Same as Trump never got a pass for me,” she said, explaining that Democrat Marianne Williamson did not get a pass either which “led to the infamous line of this is an interview, not a friendship, which is what I had to remind her of when she got upset.”
“I was actually asking tough questions. That’s the way I am with presidential candidates. And that’s because I represent the viewers not the candidates, you know, and that’s the way the journalists should be. We’re there for the viewers. We’re not there to rub elbows with these guys who may or may not be president,” she said, reminding reporters that their relationship with these individuals is “supposed to be adversarial.”
“These journalists should show it. I don’t give a shit if you’ve fallen in love with DeSantis or Trump for that matter. They’re not your friend. Your friend is your audience, is the truth,” she said, explaining that it disgusts her to see this from both sides — from the establishment press running cover for Biden to “the hardcore MAGA group running cover for Trump.”
“Stop it. Stop falling in love with the politicians. You’re a member of the media. Grab a pair. Your business is not to be loved. It’s to tell the truth. Respect is what you want. Respect will get you an audience. Love is for pundits who just want to say the nice sweet nothings that people want to hear,” she said before noting that DeSantis struggles to match Trump in the polls with others in the field.
Kelly — who infamously got into a tussle with Trump in 2016 — continued, urging DeSantis to go on “adversarial media” to see how it goes.
“I don’t hate DeSantis,” she clarified, explaining that going on her show is “not like going on NBC, right? I call it like I see it,” she said, adding that she thinks some things are good about the governor and other things are “not so good.”
“I think his biggest problem is just like we were in law school. You put the straight A students who were number one in their class in the Appellate Division of the law firm writing the briefs. And you put the C student who was third tier out in front of the people are arguing the cases in front of the jury because they tend to understand human nature and they can relate more to regular folk,” Kelly concluded.
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The criticism comes roughly a week after DeSantis unsettled several high profile conservatives after dismissing the impending indictment of former President Donald Trump as a non-issue.
“We are not involved in this [and] won’t be involved in this. I have no interest in getting involved in some type of manufactured circus by some Soros DA, ok?” DeSantis said, adding that he has “real issues” to deal with in the Sunshine State.
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Trump, however, has continued to attack DeSantis, particularly after the governor’s interview with Piers Morgan, where DeSantis criticized aspects of Trump’s leadership style. Trump, however has continued to rise in the polls.