Megyn Kelly's sneering and jeering about a disabled Milwaukee, Wisconsin firefighter who runs marathons has gotten her and her network in a wee bit of trouble. In 2011, Kelly aired a segment in which she and one attorney guest all but demanded that firefighter Aaron Marjala's disability payments be rescinded as they made no bones about portraying him as a faker. (H/T TVNewser)
You really need to see the entire video (below) to get the full flavor of Kelly's disdain. So I don't blame Marjala for going after her, Fox and the guest for not bothering to do a lot of research before judging him guilty. From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Marjala worked as a firefighter with North Shore from 2002 until he was determined to be permanently disabled as a firefighter in January 2008, due to nerve damage in his right arm that persisted despite two surgeries, according to the civil complaint.
In September 2011, WITI-TV (Channel 6), Milwaukee's Fox affiliate, broadcast a story highlighting Marjala's continued participation in marathons while on disability. In that report, Whitaker said Marjala's payments "needs to be exposed," and "the system may need some reform," implying that Marjala's case involved fraud or abuse, according to the complaint.
The national Fox News picked up the story a few days later on "Kelly's Court" (Kelly is a lawyer). Kelly introduced the story by saying Marjala "banged his funny bone on a kitchen counter at a Milwaukee firehouse. Oh, the horror."
Obviously, an injured arm could be a game changer for a firefighter and yet would not affect his ability to run.
Marjala's suit seeks unspecified damages.
I predict a settlement.
Good luck.
I’d say tomorrow, but Kelly’s proven that her idea of a coherent case is to just badger one question going off-script with LaPierre. And Fox’s spin doctors are good, but they’ll need time.
