Megyn Kelly used three tweets and some internet comments to turn actor Richard Dreyfuss into a victim of intolerant liberals because he attended a Ted Cruz rally – and then used that to hype her upcoming interview with Dreyfuss.
In a Wednesday night teaser for her Thursday night interview with Dreyfuss, Kelly announced “a growing backlash tonight against some liberals and some folks online who were simply horrified to spot Hollywood icon Richard Dreyfuss at an Iowa campaign event for Ted Cruz.” Kelly whispered Cruz’ name, with her hands melodramatically covering her mouth. Then she waved her hands and said jokingly about Dreyfuss, “Out of the club!”
The lower-third read, “CRITICS EXPLODE AFTER ACTOR RICHARD DREYFUSS ATTENDS CRUZ CAMPAIGN EVENT.”
That “explosion” consisted of two tweets, at least as far as Fox News reported.
Reporter Trace Gallagher said that Dreyfuss’ appearance “got tongues wagging” because his presence in the reserved seats suggested he’s a supporter. The “wagging tongues” apparently came from a Cruz adviser’s tweet thanking Dreyfuss for attending the rally. That tweet has, as of now, 321 retweets and 491 likes. Hardly virality.
According to Dreyfuss, his appearance there only suggested he was interested in hearing what Cruz “has to say.”
But Gallagher went on to give us the wink-wink that Dreyfuss is a Republican. First, Gallagher gratuitously said that Dreyfuss is “an outspoken supporter of the Bill of Rights and has sided with the National Rifle Association in the gun control debate.” Then for “balance,” Gallagher added that Dreyfuss had called for George W. Bush’s impeachment and has said the GOP is in danger of becoming a “joke party” and extremist. “I’m looking to see if anyone is going to revive the old Republican party,” Dreyfuss was quoted as saying.
“That nostalgia did not sit well with some,” Gallagher continued. He then cited the two critical tweets. One tweet came from a guy with all of 63 followers, another with 9 followers. Hardly a viral backlash.
The next night, Kelly started her interview with Dreyfuss and son, Harry, by saying, “Developing tonight, an Oscar-winning actor is under fire for attending a Republican campaign event. Some on the left attacking actor Richard Dreyfuss after he was spotted at …” Kelly gasped in mock fright and said, “a Ted Cruz campaign rally just a few weeks back.”
Kelly said about Harry Dreyfuss, “Harry was so incensed about the criticism he wrote a post that has gone viral online.”
It’s hard to find evidence of that virality, either. Google “Harry Dreyfuss” and there’s not much that comes up beyond his editorial in The Huffington Post and on Medium. They currently have 51 and 481 comments, respectively, which shows interest, sure, but not really virality.
Kelly nevertheless played up the “intolerant liberals” narrative. She told Harry, “People decided that your dad, a beloved actor, needed to be kicked out of Hollywood and with things I can not repeat on national television because they saw him at a Republican campaign event. Why did you write about it?”
“They made the mistake of thinking him being there to see what Ted Cruz had to say, that it meant he supported him,” Harry said. “We should all highly exult the ability to go listen to someone you disagree with. I wanted to stick it to the people who thought that that was not a good thing to do.”
“Good for you! Sticking it to the people is always a good idea when the people are jerks,” Kelly replied.
But other than some internet criticism, nobody cited any actual damage to Dreyfuss’ career or reputation or social standing that resulted from this “backlash” against him.
Watch it below, from the February 10 and February 11 The Kelly File.