'The Interview': Megyn Kelly Is Embracing Her Bias and Rejecting the 'Old Rules'
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Why did Megyn Kelly endorse Donald Trump?
From The New York Times, this is The Interview. I'm Lulu Garcia Navarro. Last year, on the night before the election, Megyn Kelly did something she'd never done before. She got up on stage at Donald Trump's final campaign rally, and she endorsed him.
And I prefer a president who understands how to be strong and how to fight. I hope all of you do what I did last week. Vote Trump and get 10 friends to vote Trump too.
Kelly built her career in the mainstream media. She spent nearly 15 years at Fox News, where she earned a reputation as one of the channel's sharpest interviewers, before she moved briefly to NBC. But that Trump rally speech was the clearest sign yet that Kelly has moved on to her next chapter. Over the past few years, she's found a new lane for herself in podcasting and on YouTube, where she has a daily talk show that fits squarely into the MAGA-loving media universe. It's just one of the reasons why I was so interested to talk to her about her professional evolution, her volatile relationship with President Trump, and what she thinks some people, myself included, don't understand about how the media has changed forever. Here's my conversation with Megyn Kelly. Thank you.
How did Megyn Kelly transition from law to journalism?
Megan, one of the reasons I wanted to talk to you is because you're really forging this new path. And I think to fully sort of understand your career, I wanted to start early. Before you were a journalist, you were a lawyer at Jones Day, which is one of the toughest, notorious firms out there for being just like a big international law firm that only takes the best of the best. When you walked through that door, were you a tough person?
Well, the practice of law definitely toughened me up. Because while I was always comfortable with public speaking, I wasn't necessarily comfortable arguing and standing up for myself and coming under attack and being able to hold my own. And so law school helped with that. And then before I went to Jones Day, I did two years at Bickel & Brewer. Same mentality, which is kill or be killed. And it was known for its, quote, Rambo litigation tactics. So when I was very young, 24, that was very sexy to me. I thought that was extremely cool. And I love the thought of what that could do to me. I thought that those guys would toughen me up, would take what I had learned in law school and bring it next level. And they did.
I know there was a time when you were working days as a lawyer and then nights and weekends learning TV journalism. What did you feel that you could do as a journalist that you couldn't do as a litigator?
I'm going to have fun. It was one thing. What did you like about it? Oh, God, everything. Everything. I loved the storytelling. I loved getting a story. I loved having that extra nugget that nobody else had. I loved the excitement and the pressure, the EU stress, which is the more positive stress you can invite into your life, of having to be on, you know, of like... the fight-or-flight instinct coming on behind your neck, like the tiny hairs being up because you've got to go, and there's not a second go at it. You're alive. Go. So I just felt completely alive, and I also felt that what I was doing mattered. One of the reasons I chose journalism when I was considering a second career was 9-11 hit, and I was 30, and I was watching TV that day
having an unfamiliar emotion watching some of the reporters, in addition to all the other horrible emotions that we were watching in the event. And that was envy. I remember watching Ashley Banfield, and she was so cool under enormous pressure and thinking, she's doing such a service right now, and you can't see her sweat under the scariest possible circumstances. You could put a reporter. And I thought, I want to do that.
In 2004, you get to Fox. What were your politics then? Did you feel attracted to the news organization because it was conservative, or were you just thinking, this is my way in, it's the big time?
The latter. I really wasn't political. I was raised a Democrat, sort of. We never talked about politics in my household, but I knew my parents were Democrats. And, you know, my Nana, God bless her, she lived to 101. She used to say, Republicans are for rich people. We're not rich. She's from New Jersey. That's her New Jersey accent. So I just always thought of myself as a Democrat.
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Chapters
7 chapters
1
Why did Megyn Kelly endorse Donald Trump?
0:04–1:31
2
How did Megyn Kelly transition from law to journalism?
1:31–5:53
3
What was Megyn Kelly's experience at Fox News?
5:53–11:47
4
Why did Megyn Kelly's relationship with Donald Trump become contentious?
11:47–20:40
5
What were the consequences of Megyn Kelly's allegations against Roger Ailes?
20:40–28:19
6
How did Megyn Kelly's time at NBC end, and what did she learn?
28:19–35:09
7
Why did Megyn Kelly choose podcasting and YouTube for her new career path?
35:09–42:43