“Straight news anchor” Megyn Kelly ended her State of the Union coverage by lecturing, criticizing and outright yelling at DNC Chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz over her Muslim invites to the State of the Union and for her comments about Republican Nikki Haley.
The segment started with Fox’s “Breaking Tonight” animation, as if this was really an important news story.
Kelly’s disdain began in her introduction.
KELLY: Even before Nikki Haley delivered the Republican response to The State of The Union, the DNC was criticizing the South Carolina governor, suggesting she was only picked because of a Republican diversity problem.
Kelly made a stab at balance by saying that “some conservative media outlets had been fiercely angry at the governor” for saying, “Today, we live in a time of threats like few others in recent memory. During anxious times it can be tempting to follow the siren call of the angriest voices. We must resist that temptation.”
Of course, Kelly never mentioned who those conservative media outlets were or that a Kelly File regular, Ann Coulter, tweeted about Haley (whose parents immigrated from India), “Trump should deport Nikki Haley.”
The only person who got a talking-to just happened to be the DNC chair. “As a woman, don’t you think it’s diminishing to say they had to put her up there for diversity purposes?” Kelly asked Wasserman Schultz.
Wasserman Schultz responded by saying that even the Republicans have acknowledged a diversity problem and the “alienation of minority groups” in their “autopsy” report following the 2012 election.
Kelly interrupted and began talking over Wasserman Schultz. “But you said this. You said that. Don’t you think it’s diminishing toward her? Why do you bring her gender into it?”
Wasserman Schultz continued, “I agree that they have a diversity problem and it’s very clear that Nikki Haley is a governor that has…”
Again Kelly interrupted: “Why couldn’t she have been picked because she’s smart, she’s savvy, she presents well, she’s articulate and she’s a great spokesman for the Republicans?”
Wasserman Schultz replied that Haley “has actually done damage to her state” has been “extremely unpopular” and “refuses to expand Medicaid.”
It’s one thing to challenge Wasserman Schultz, it’s another thing to lecture her, as Kelly began to do: “You’re in an important position. Shouldn’t you be more careful with your language?” Then, even as Wasserman Schultz tried to respond, Kelly continued: “When it comes to women, what are you gonna say when people say they only made Hillary the nominee if she becomes the nominee because she’s a woman? You’re gonna say, ‘That’s sexist’ and ‘Watch it.’”
As Wasserman Schultz started to reply, Kelly interrupted to lecture her some more: “I know you better than this. You know you’re on shaky ground.”
Kelly soon “moved on to one of her favorite topics: attacking CAIR, the Council on American-Islamic Relations.
KELLY: Was it a mistake to allow, to have a couple of Democrats show up with representatives of CAIR at the State of The Union tonight? CAIR is an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorist trial. President’s Obama DOJ says they’re directly linked to Hamas which we recognize as a terrorist group.
Wasserman Schultz fired back, “Megyn, now who is talking about something that disappointing?” Kelly interrupted, yelling “President Obama’s DOJ said that, not me!”
Kelly interrupted and talked over Wasserman Schultz's reply, snarking, “There are a lot of great Muslim Americans that could go there that are not affiliated with a group that’s been named as an unindicted co-conspirator in a terrorist trial.”
Wasserman Schultz said she asked her colleagues to do what she did and invite a Muslim American constituent, a leader in the community, to join her as her guest and 25 members did that. She stood by her decision, calling it “the right thing to do” in order to “call out the discrimination” against Muslims by Republicans.
Kelly cut her off with a condescending, “I got it,” then said, “It’s not the Muslim guest, it’s CAIR in particular, but I understand your point.”
As Media Matters pointed out, CAIR is the largest Muslim civil liberty group in the country. The Washington Post’s fact checker has criticized the “unindicted terrorism co-conspirator” moniker as unfair and misleading. CAIR has never been charged with any criminal activity and has a tax-exempt status in the U.S.
I can’t wait for Kelly’s follow-up segment where she criticizes Republican guests at the State of The Union or calls out Coulter's smear of Haley.
As if that’s likely to happen.
Watch Kelly's unprofessional behavior below, from the January 12 The Kelly File.
Now, bear in mind that Davis is from Kentucky, not Ohio. And that Jordan’s district has NO direct physical, geographical connection to Davis’s Rowan County (in fact, Rowan County doesn’t even border the State of Ohio at all). So, one has to wonder why Davis would be the “guest” (and Jordan denies that he actually “invited” Davis—all he admits is giving away the tickets, but “po-tay-to, po-tah-to”) of a Congressman who’s not from her own state? Perhaps, her own Republican Congressman (Hal Rogers, KY-5) was too embarrassed to be seen with her, and none of the other Republican Congressional delegates (4 other Representatives plus 2 US Senators) wanted to be seen with her either.
She probably would’ve been — IF that were the case.
It ain’t.
Haley was picked to give the repub response, for the same reason the RNC voted Michael Steele as its first African American chair nine days after President Obama took the oath of office in 2008 . . . the same reason Bobby Jindal — whose parents, like Haley’s, were Indian immigrants — was picked to give the repub response after President Obama’s very first SOTUA (and failed spectacularly) . . . the same reason John McCain tapped a half-term female governor of the nation’s least-populated state as his ’12 running mate . . . the same reason Fox pushed both Herman “pizza man” Cain and Dr. Ben Carson as viable presidential contenders, before ultimately abandoning both . . .
The GOP, as Wasserman Schultz said, has a diversity problem — in order to combat it, they’ll trot out what few women/minorities they can scrounge up on the teevee at every opportunity . . .
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