Megyn Kelly looked more like a prosecuting attorney than a “straight news anchor” as she hostilely “cross examined” her African American guest about why the Garner and Ferguson cases have anything to do with race. And demanded to know why African Americans aren’t protesting black-on-black crime instead. When guest Marc Morial called her out on her bias, Kelly laughably insisted, “I’m open minded!”
In a contentious nine-minute interview, Kelly seemed completely uninterested in Morial’s concerns about the Garner case or why African Americans are upset. Instead, she seemed intent on putting him on trial and convicting Morial and other African Americans for feeling that race is a factor in the case and that they should be more upset about black-on-black crime anyway.
Morial, the president and CEO of National Urban League and the former mayor of New Orleans, barely had a chance to explain the African American perspective on the Garner case and the protests before Kelly interrupted to demand that he justify the racial angle. It’s funny, but she never showed even a fraction of this skepticism when her white pal made racial accusations against Attorney General Eric Holder.
Kelly said she got that Morial thought justice had not been served in the Garner case and that it was his right to press for it. “But to say that this is a racist situation,” she continued, “as Al Sharpton has suggested, as Mayor de Blasio has suggested, as many others have suggested requires evidence.” Kelly said the word “evidence” in an extremely condescending tone.
“What would it take for you to acknowledge that race is an issue?” Morial asked. “Maybe you don’t want to acknowledge that race is an issue.”
After more back and forth, Morial said, “Let us say this… on this issue we have a difference of opinion and as Americans, we have a right…”
Kelly interrupted to say crossly, “I’m open minded.”
Morial tried to explain, “There are just too many instances. …The outcry you see, Megyn, is not operating in a vacuum. And it’s not just one or two civil rights organizations.”
So Kelly changed the subject with a blatant attempt to indict African Americans for caring about the issue at all. She interrupted to “ask,” “Where are the protests over the fact that 91% of all blacks who were murdered in 2013 were killed by other blacks? 7% were killed by whites. 91% of the murders committed against black people were by other black people.”
This had nothing to do with anything Morial was trying to say, it was just a gratuitous attempt to delegitimize Morial and other African Americans.
“Let me tell you about your right-wing talking points,” Morial began.
“It’s not my right-wing talking points. Those are statistics!” Kelly shot back
Yeah, statistics she rarely, if ever, challenges any of her right-wing guests with in anything close to the same way.
Morial told Kelly, “If you want to know where the outrage is, come with me on Sunday to a hundred African American churches around the country where there’s a conversation about violence: police violence, black-on-black violence. That just may not be a part of the community that you see, where there’s outrage.”
Of course, Kelly showed no interest in viewing that part of the community. She interrupted to say, in a condemning tone, that she hasn’t seen rallies like that. As if she were the arbiter of what amounts to Proper Concern By Black People For Their Own Problems.
“Straight news anchor?” I don’t think so.
Watch it below, from the December 4 The Kelly File.
For some odd reason that I have yet to pin down, the idea that any facts that do not fit Kelly’s mindset are channeled into the “straight-through” lane gives me a glimmer of hope that she would actually be capable of being open minded if given half a chance by the top floor of the FNC building.
Which lately, doesn’t seem to be much.
