Megyn Kelly opened The Kelly File tonight with about one minute giving the facts of the shoot-down of Malaysia Flight MH17 and then nearly nine minutes of attacking President Obama over it. Most of the criticism was centered on his decision not to cancel a speech and two fundraisers. But she and her guests managed to work in criticism over the border crisis, Fort Hood and – yup, Benghazi. She even suggested that Obama should be more like George W. Bush.
At 1:09 in the video below, Kelly put aside her interest in the facts of behind the downing of MH17 and started in on Obama. In her sneering tone, she said:
Back at home, President Obama was on the road, delivering a speech in Delaware calling for (her voice dripped with disdain) more spending on transportation. And in the middle of that, he paused to say this: (she played a video clip of Obama saying MH17 may be “a terrible tragedy”).
The president spent the next half hour talking about the need for more infrastructure projects. And then hopped on Air Force One for a quick trip to New York City. He arrived just hours ago to attend two campaign fundraising events that are closed to the media.
…Even before he arrived, some media outlets were asking why he is out fundraising when up to two dozen Americans… on the manifest of this plane who were killed! In a terror attack less than 12 hours ago!
Cue up Ed Henry at the White House. Henry piled on by gratuitously saying,
Interesting, because you remember last week, the president also did some fundraising in Texas. Did not visit the border, he said, because he was not interested in photo ops. As you noted today in Delaware, he kept up his photo ops. Had a cheeseburger with a single Mom, pushed the highway funding that you talked about. Think back, though, to how this week started. A major front page piece in the Wall Street Journal, cataloging all these national security crises around the world. It raised the question about whether U.S. power around the globe was in decline.
Henry concluded his report after a bit more that included a few tidbits of real news. Then it was back to Kelly.
Kelly was still sneering as she announced that Secretary of State John Kerry had canceled his fundraiser. “So far, no changes announced for the president’s schedule,” she added.
For the record, I think it’s fair to criticize Obama on the optics and the substance. But is this really the most important aspect of the tragedy to focus on?
Apparently, it is. But Kelly pretended otherwise.
“Obviously, we’re focused on what is happening overseas,” Kelly said, with unintentional hilarity, in her opening remark to her next guest, Republican Marc Thiessen. “But again with the fundraisers,” she added.
Thiessen picked right up on the meme:
Just last week, he was in Texas and then went to a fundraiser instead of the border and he’s got a pattern of doing this. The day after the Benghazi attack, he was in Las Vegas for a fundraiser. The day after Putin initially invaded Ukraine and took over Crimea, he went to a fundraiser and said it’s Happy Hour for the Democratic party.
Well, you get the picture.
But it’s worth noting that before she closed this very lengthy segment, Megyn Kelly just happened to reiterate one point: "You know, you pointed out that he has done these fundraisers repeatedly when we’ve had, you know, serious situations including …confirmed American lives lost, i.e. Benghazi."
Kelly also just happened to have a clip of Obama’s remarks after the Fort Hood massacre cued up that he was “excoriated for,” as she put it. “And now it seems he’s done it again.”
Believe it or not, Kelly went on to “ask” Thiessen if President George W. Bush understood “that the American people are looking to their leader to set the tone?” Apparently, Kelly forgot about Hurricane Katrina, in which Bush famously told his hapless (and failing) FEMA head, “Brownie, you’re doing a heck of a job.” She and Thiessen even managed to spin Bush’s slow reaction to the news of 9/11.
Watch the snow job below.
’Nuff said.
That said, Obama has an absolute tin ear for this kind of event. The Foxies and Gopers generally would criticize him anyway, but really, there are times when the president needs to visibly show he’s on the job, and Obama has clearly decided he’s not going to bother with that much anymore. He’s not doing himself, or us, any favors, IMO.