Conservative commentator and the host of the Megyn Kelly Show, Megyn Kelly, faced backlash online after a recent interview with Vice President JD Vance on the talk show that included remarks attributed to her former boss, Roger Ailes.
Social media users questioned her remarks in the interview with the VP, characterizing it as tone-deaf, given her own published accusations of sexual harassment from when she was working with Ailes.
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What was the interview segment about?
President Donald Trump publicly admonished CNN’s Kaitlan Collins for not “smiling enough” during a press exchange about the Epstein Files.
During the Oval Office exchange, Trump interrupted Collin’s question about survivors of sex offender Jeffrey Epstein and launched into a personal critique of her demeanor saying, “I don’t think I have ever seen you smile.” The comment is being critiqued online as dismissive and sexist.
Megyn Kelly and JD Vance were discussing the same incident in the interview segment when Kelly mentioned advice that mirrored the one she received from her former boss, Roger Ailes, who, she wrote in her book, abused her.
In the exchange with JD Vance, where he praises Trump for being “perceptive” to ask Collins to smile during a press conference, Kelly says, “Every once in a while, you have to smile. Roger Ailes used to tell us that.”
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“Every once in a while, you have to smile”
Social media users on X pointed to Kelly’s 2016 memoir Settle for More after she brought up Ailes, in which she described alleged unwanted sexual advances from Ailes at the beginning of her career.
An X user called Ailes a predator, tagging the interview segment and wrote, “’every now and then, Roger Ailes used to tell us that’ NO SHIT HE WAS A PREDATOR.”
Another user, Ceara Gilmartin-Donohue, questioned Kelly on the advice she recounted for the CNN journalist and wrote, “Megyn Kelly wrote a whole book about how Roger Ailes sexually harassed her and now she’s talking about the advice he gave female anchors at fox to smile from time to time?????”
Another X user called Kelly out on mentioning Roger Ailes and trying to defend Trump and wrote, “@megynkelly namedropping Roger Ailes and saying he used to tell them they needed to smile is REALLY helping Trump look less sexist.”