Megyn Kelly was so excited about her “world exclusive” interview with Obama’s terrorist pal “unrepentant terrorist” Bill Ayers that she made it the top two segments of her show last night. She even put off discussing yesterday’s Supreme Court Hobby Lobby ruling, which she excitedly described as capping off “the worst ten days of any modern presidency.” So, not surprisingly, she set up the interview with a six-minute video designed to overstate the tenuous ties between Obama and Ayers.
In February, 2008, Politico investigated the relationship between Obama and Ayers. In an article called, “Obama once visited ‘60s radicals,” Politico reported, “(T)here’s no evidence their relationship is more than the casual friendship of two men who occupy overlapping Chicago political circles and who served together on the board of a Chicago foundation.”
In October, 2008, The New York Times reported:
A review of records of the schools project (Ayers and Obama worked on) and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close. Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called “somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.”
It speaks volumes that Kelly made innuendoes and aired a lot of sensational footage suggesting a close connection but she never provided any actual evidence of anything more than a casual relationship between the two.
For example, in her introduction, Kelly said:
Professor Bill Ayers admits to terrorizing this country… and he got away scot free. Because this is America, he wound up as a college professor who even helped a president launch his political career.
Though you might have thought from Kelly’s description that Ayers was some kind of major benefactor or advisor, the truth is he played a rather minimal role. From Politico:
In 1995, State Senator Alice Palmer introduced her chosen successor, Barack Obama, to a few of the district’s influential liberals at the home of two well known figures on the local left: William Ayers and Bernardine Dohrn.
...Now, as Obama runs for president, what two guests recall as an unremarkable gathering on the road to a minor elected office stands as a symbol of how swiftly he has risen from a man in the Hyde Park left to one closing in fast on the Democratic nomination for president.
But Kelly deliberately hyped the connection by moving on to air a 2008 campaign ad from then-candidate Obama’s opponent, John McCain:
Barack Obama and domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, friends. They’ve worked together for years. But Obama tries to hide it. Why?
As if in answer, we next heard Kelly saying, “He was one of the most controversial figures in Barack Obama’s 2008 presidential campaign.” Then came a clip of Sarah Palin saying Obama is “someone who sees America as imperfect enough to pal around with terrorists who targeted their own country.”
Kelly did play a clip of Obama saying that it “doesn’t make much sense” to say that what Ayers did when Obama was 8 years old reflects his current values. But that was one brief soundbite in a much longer string of insinuations and accusations otherwise.
In fact, Kelly specifically echoed (and gave validity to) Palin by saying:
Bill Ayers: friend of the man who would be president and an unrepentant terrorist whose group bombed America over and over again.
But the only tie she specifically mentioned was “hosting a fundraiser for the then-Illinois senate candidate.” In other words, she had no more information than Politico on this supposed “friendship.”
But Kelly saw no reason not to suggest something sinister about their “friendship” has been hidden from America. She added, “When their friend becomes a presidential candidate, Ayers stays mostly quiet but emerges soon after the election, sounding far from remorseful.”
Part 2 is tonight. Kelly promised to further use Ayers to smear Obama discuss Ayers’ relationship with Obama.
Watch below how Kelly uses implication, rather than information, to leave the impression of a real connection between Ayers and Obama.