Megyn Kelly Bares Her Soul
President Donald Trump’s nine month twitter assault and the sexual harassment investigations within the Fox company were some of the things Megyn Kelly faced near the end of her time working for Fox News. Since then, she has been at NBC hosting “Megyn Kelly Today,” and finds herself much happier than before.
“I am loving, and forgiving, and kind, and joyful, and a crier, and a mom, and a Catholic and all the things,” Kelly said last Saturday at The Sheen Center for Culture and Thought. “But I’m also not afraid to punch a bully in the face, to stand up for what’s right, to follow my ethical compass even if it might earn me some enemies and I am doing all of that on my show right now and will continue to.”
“I have rescued myself from a dark, acrimonious existence to one that is better for my soul.”
Kelly discussed her family, career, and Catholic upbringing at the event, “TV Bares Soul: An Intimate Evening of Conversation with Megyn Kelly.” It was hosted by Father Edward L. Beck, a religion commentator for CNN.
“Catholicism is big on forgiveness and so am I,” Kelly said.
When Kelly asked Trump about his comments toward women at the Republican debate in 2015, death threats appeared, including one that Trump’s top attorney Michael Cohen retweeted. The tweet said “we can gut her.”
Kelly feared for the safety of herself and her family following the attention she was given by Trump and his followers.
“I’m still dealing with the follow-up of that,” Kelly admitted.
Kelly said she is quick to forgive and that includes Trump.
After months of dealing with Trump’s twitter attacks, Kelly asked for a private meeting with Trump and met with him on April 13, 2016 in Trump Tower. Kelly recalled that Trump never apologized and seemed to have enjoyed the pain he caused her.
According to Kelly, she claimed the first thing Trump told her was that he was proud of her. She believes that he meant “I am proud of you for withstanding my nine month assault,” Kelly said.
“By the time I left, I started to believe it was all a show,” Kelly added.
The “show” Trump created had taken Kelly away from her family. She remembered leaving a birthday party for her daughter’s friend on the day Trump announced he wasn’t attending Fox’s second Republican debate because of her.
“So I gotta leave Yardley [her daughter], wave goodbye, back to the office,” Kelly said while adding that she had many of those types of situations during that period.
Kelly has a profound love for her children. Being a mother changed everything about her relationship with God.
“Having a child is 100 percent the line of demarcation in one’s life, where there is a reform after, and the after spiritually nothing like before to me,” Kelly said.
Even though Kelly admitted she was a “mediocre Catholic,” she had “zero doubt” in the existence of something larger than herself after being pregnant, watching the baby develop, and giving birth. Being a mother is “spirituality electrified.”
Kelly was pregnant with her youngest son Thatcher Brunt when she had to cover the shootings in Newtown, Connecticut, and felt a close connection to the parents of the fallen children.
“It affected me so deeply, and that is why I wanted to interview Alex Jones, who was tormenting them,” she said.
After seeing how Alex Jones, the host of InfoWars, had only grown in power alongside the rise of Trump, Kelly decided, ”It’s time to expose this man.” The controversial interview aired on NBC’s “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly.”
On her new show that airs on NBC, Kelly said she is happier than she was before. She said it’s not only because of the more joyful content she gets to cover but because of the people she surrounded herself with.
Kelly added that her work days are spent around lighter people rather than the likes of Bill O’Reilly and Sean Hannity who loved to fight and cause controversy.
“I have rescued myself from a dark, acrimonious existence to one that is better for my soul,” Kelly said.