It’s the 12 Days of Ballotpedia! Your gift powers the trusted, unbiased information voters need heading into 2026. Donate now!

Megyn Kelly

From Ballotpedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Megyn Kelly
MegynKelly.jpg
Basic facts
Organization:NBC News
Role:Anchor
Location:New York, New York
Expertise:Journalism and Law
Education:•Syracuse University (B.A., political science)
•Albany Law School (J.D., 1995)


Megyn Kelly is a television news anchor.

On January 3, 2017, The New York Times reported that Kelly would leave Fox News for NBC News.[1]

On Fox News, Kelly was the host of her own FN show The Kelly File.

Kelly was one of the moderators, along with Bret Baier and Chris Wallace, of the Republican presidential primary debate on August 6, 2015, in Cleveland. Fox News hosted the seventh Republican presidential primary debate on January 28, 2016. The debate was moderated, once again, by Megyn Kelly, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace.

She is a former litigator for the law firms Bickel and Brewer and Jones Day.

Career

Megyn Kelly, a native of Delmar, a suburb of Albany, attended Syracuse University and earned her bachelor's in political science. She then went on to Albany Law School to get her J.D. in 1995. After college she decided to become a corporate litigator and got a job with the law firm Bickel and Brewer in Chicago. Two years later she got a job with the law firm Jones Day.[2]

While in Washington, D.C., Kelly was persuaded to send a tape to Kim Hume, Fox News' (FN) Washington bureau chief. FN hired her and, by 2006, she had been relocated to New York to act as the daytime co-anchor on FN with Bill Hemmer.[3] Prior to her hire at Fox, in 2003, Kelly had worked as a general assignment reporter for the D.C. television station WJLA.[4]

In late 2013, Kelly got her own news show on FN, The Kelly File. According to The Washington Post, the show's debut garnered better ratings in the 25-to-54 year olds demographic than The O'Reilly Factor—Fox's highest rated show at the time—making The Kelly File FN's No. 2 show overall in 2013.[3] FN describes her show as focusing on interviews, in-depth reporting and utilizing Kelly's skills as a former litigator.[4]

In November 2016, Megyn Kelly published her memoir, Settle for More. [5]

On January 3, 2017, The New York Times reported that Kelly would leave Fox News for NBC News, where she would host a daytime program covering a variety of issues and a Sunday evening program focused on hard news.[1]

Presidential debates (2015–2016)

August 6, 2016, Republican debate

See also: Fox News Republican debate (August 6, 2015)

With colleagues Bret Baier and Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly moderated the first of the Republican primary debates on August 6, 2015. In preparation for the debates, Kelly noted that her intention is to remain separate from the debate and not to engage in aggressive debates with the candidates, according to an interview with Politico.[6] The August 6 debate was Kelly's first presidential debate. Kelly also noted that unlike the debate format used in shows like her own, "The Kelly File", there are rules and guidelines that must be adhered to, stating that "there are rules for these debates and you have to respect them unless you want to restart the clock. Having said that, we do our best. We try to anticipate the talking points that they’ve used in the past.”[6]

Her previous experience with presidential elections was during the 2012 and 2014 election cycle. Kelly was co-anchor on FN's "America's Election HQ" alongside Baier, who co-moderated with Kelly in the debates. Kelly has also covered the 2008 presidential elections as well as the 2010 midterm elections.[4]

Post-debate

During the August 6, 2015, debate, Kelly asked Donald Trump about his previous remarks regarding women. Trump interrupted Kelly in the middle of the question and noted, jokingly, that his comments were aimed at the TV personality Rosie O'Donnell. Kelly finished her question, asking whether his comments are consistent with a candidate for president. Trump responded, by stating: " I think the big problem this country has is being politically correct." After brief mentionings of China and Mexico with regard to the economy and the border, Trump said "And frankly, what I say, and oftentimes it’s fun, it’s kidding. We have a good time. What I say is what I say. And honestly Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you, although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that."[7][8]

Trump continued to direct comments at Kelly the following day on CNN, by remarking on Kelly's anatomy. Politico wrote that Trump was "apparently insinuating that the moderator had been menstruating when she questioned him during Thursday’s first Republican debate."[9] Trump told CNN anchor Don Lemon that "You could see there was blood coming out of her [Kelly's] eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever."[9] This solicited a response from other Republican presidential candidates who saw Trump's remarks as inappropriate. Trump was also uninvited to join RedState.com's Erick Erickson at a conference on August 8, where he was supposed to speak. Trump clarified his remarks on Twitter by writing, "“Re Megyn Kelly quote: ‘you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever’ (NOSE). Just got on w/thought.”[9][8] Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, noted that Trump, having taken on Kelly, "makes him the kind of equal-opportunity brawler Republicans will need next fall."[9]

January 28, 2016, Republican debate

See also: Des Moines, Iowa Fox News Republican Debate (January 28, 2016)

Fox News hosted the seventh Republican presidential primary debate on January 28, 2016. The debate was moderated, once again, by Bret Baier, Chris Wallace, and Megyn Kelly. On January 26, 2016, Trump announced that he would not be participating in the debate citing prior interactions with Kelly as the reason.[10][11] On Wednesday, January 27, Trump, on Twitter, stated "I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!"[10] Trump had initially asked that Kelly be removed from the panel of moderators, however Fox News refused.[10]

Media

Recent news

The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for the terms Megyn Kelly. These results are automatically generated from Google. Ballotpedia does not curate or endorse these articles.

See also

External Links

Footnotes