Podcast host Megyn Kelly had some kind words for Donald Trump on Monday, years after engaging in a bitter feud with the Republican both online and on national television.
The uplifting comments came during a Monday taping of The Megyn Kelly Show, and seemed to push the couple’s long-standing animosity into the rearview.
Kelly’s song of praise came after she said she enjoyed a private ‘one-on-one’ conversation with Firebrand, 77, who just a few years ago called her ‘crazy’ and ‘silly’.
The feud between the two personalities began in August 2015, when they faced each other in the first Republican presidential debate in Charleston, South Carolina.
At the time, Kelly, now 52, was serving as the event’s moderator and found herself in Trump’s crosshairs after airing a question about his past disparaging comments toward women. Trump, as a trademark, responded on Twitter days later, paving the way for a war of words that won’t soon be forgotten.
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The uplifting comments came during a Monday taping of The Megyn Kelly Show, and seemed to push the couple’s long-standing animosity into the rearview.
The comments came after Trump summoned the former Fox News journalist for a private chat on Sunday before the two delivered speeches at the Turning Point USA conference in Palm Beach. Trump is seen speaking at the conservative conference here
However, Kelly made it clear Monday that he is doing exactly that, after a Sunday conversation with the new presidential hopeful in Palm Beach.
It was there, Kelly revealed, that she was summoned for a private talk before the two delivered speeches at the Turning Point USA conference.
“One of the most interesting things I did was have a private audience with former President Donald Trump,” Kelly recalled Monday of the previously unreported encounter.
She continued: “When he walked into the arena, we met one on one, his team was standing nearby, but he and I met one on one for the first time in years and it was, frankly, great to see.” ‘
Of their previous spats, which included a particularly venomous jab from Trump after the debate who seemed to pin his line of questioning on the words of someone on her menstruation, Kelly said: “All that nonsense between us is under the bridge.”
“He could not have been more magnanimous,” he added.
Trump’s earlier criticism of Kelly, a former Fox News personality who experienced a notable surge in popularity during the 2016 election, was noticeably less kind.
After being confronted by comments that Kelly considered sexist in 2015 in their first debate, Trump slammed the questions as “ludicrous” and Kelly as “off the mark.”
Continuing the verbal assault on Twitter later that night, Trump, who at the time was facing scrutiny for calling several women he disapproved of names like pigs, dogs, bums, said: “Wow @megynkelly really bombed tonight . People are going crazy on Twitter! Fun to watch.
The feud between the two personalities began in August 2015, when Kelly clashed with the then-presidential hopeful in the first Republican presidential debate in South Carolina.
After criticizing the line of the question, and Kelly as “ridiculous” and Kelly as “out of character,” Trump, seen here during a second debate that he only attended on the condition that Kelly not moderate it, responded on Twitter. shortly after. , paving the way for the years-long war of words
In a series of other posts, the polarizing politician went on to express his displeasure, labeling Kelly, then still at Fox, “dumb” and “unwatchable.”
In an interview the day after the debate with CNN’s Don Lemon, Trump went on to criticize Kelly’s line of questioning, labeling it a hit job.
“You could see blood coming out of his eyes,” he said at the time. ‘Blood coming out of her anywhere.’
In an interview with ABC News’ This Week two days later, Trump claimed he was referring to Kelly’s nose when he said “wherever.”
Meanwhile, Kelly called Trump’s comments indicative of the candidate’s “war on women.”
The controversial tug of war would continue until next year, when Trump called Kelly “crazy” in three separate tweets, repeating a tactic he has used against rivals Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio, calling them “Lyin’ Ted Cruz” and “Little Marco.”
‘Highly overrated and crazy @megynkelly always complaining about Trump and yet she dedicates her shows to me. Focus on the others Megyn!’ wrote the then president on Twitter.
In another post, she said: “Crazy @megynkelly now complaining that @oreillyfactor didn’t stand up for her against me but her bad show is a total blow to me,” referring to an interview Kelly gave in which she said she had wished for her Fox News co-worker Bill O’Reilly had been more supportive of her when she interviewed Trump on his show.
A couple of hours before that tweet, Trump wrote: “Crazy @megynkelly allegedly had Ted Cruz lie on her show last night.”
The next day, he went on a similar tirade against Kelly with three tweets again calling her “crazy,” all in the span of 30 minutes.
‘Don’t worry, everyone is wise to Crazy Megyn!’ Trump wrote in a post.
She later added: “I can’t watch Crazy Megyn anymore. She talks about me 43 per cent but never mentions that there are four people in the race. With two people, big and more!
Less than five minutes later, he said: ‘Watching other networks and local news. Good night! Crazy @megynkelly is impossible to watch.
In April of that year, Kelly, then in the middle of her senior year at Fox, had a one-on-one interview with Trump, but before her release, she admitted the process wasn’t easy.
“In April there was a lull in the tweet storm and I jumped at the chance,” Kelly told ABC News. “I had been looking for months for the right window to get in there. But every time I thought I was there, he’d start over, either boycotting the second Fox News debate or calling me crazy and sick after the third debate.
The latest comment came in reference to Trump’s refusal to participate in a second debate with Kelly as moderator, leaving Ted Cruz as the only willing participant after John Kasich also withdrew.
That said, his interview didn’t feature the same verbal fireworks seen in previous months, and even saw Trump admit that while he thought Kelly’s question about his comments about women “was unfair,” he understood her decision to ask it. .
‘I don’t really blame you, because you’re doing your thing. But from my point of view, I don’t have to like it,’ she said at the time.
The dispute died down for several months, before reigniting in October during an interview Kelly had on Fox News with then-Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich.
During the meeting, Gingrich appeared to come to Trump’s defense after she brought up Trump’s sexual abuse allegations, one of which escalated into a full-blown federal case.
At the time, Gingrich accused Kelly of being “fascinated with sex.”
He asked, ‘I mean, do you want to rewatch the tapes of your show recently? You are fascinated with sex and you don’t care about public policy.
Undeterred, Kelly went on to posit whether Trump was a “sexual predator,” citing his now-infamous hot-mic “Access to Hollywood” moment from an old interview with then-anchor Billy Bush in 2005.
Outraged, Gingrich claimed: ‘You can’t defend that statement. I’m sick and tired of people like you using inflammatory language, that’s just not true.
Trump went on to praise Gingrich for his behavior during the much-watched interview.
“By the way, congratulations Newt on last night,” Trump tweeted at the time, calling it “an amazing interview.”
‘We don’t play, Newt, do we? We do not play games.
On Monday, Kelly cited this no-nonsense nature as one reason she has come to support Trump after so many years.
She said. ‘The thing about Trump is that he dominates the room… It’s not just because he is now president because he knew it before that. There’s something about him, it’s like an aura that takes over the room. There is only one person you can look at.
He couldn’t have been kinder or more generous and had some interesting insights into the discussions, if you’ll attend. I wouldn’t bet on it. I wouldn’t bet he’d make it to at least that first Fox News debate.
‘If I had to bet money, you know, it’s Trump so he can change his mind. But that was my feeling when I talked to him. Though he didn’t commit himself one way or the other. And we had a great exchange.
She continued: “I thought it was interesting that as a journalist, as a woman, as a human being, who went through so much with Trump, you know, we’ve had our ups and downs, it’s fair to say.”
“For me, there was a lesson in that kind moment between the two of us. And it was that, even as a journalist, if you can get your own ego out of it, and I went through a lot when Trump attacked me during those nine months, I’ve documented that in my book and elsewhere.
“But if you can get your ego out of it, if you can be quick to move past these confrontations and these negative experiences. You can open that possibility for yourself, you can open a field of well-being, of positivity, of good relationships.
“So take away the fact that it’s about Donald Trump, the former president and the well-known journalist Megyn Kelly, this could be true for you in your life. If you just find a way to say, “You know what? That was yesterday, I’m here today. I’m thinking about tomorrow.”
“I just think it’s a testament to how people can change and rebuild relationships and people can move forward in a positive way,” he concluded.
“And I know I’m not the only one because when Trump took the stage and addressed the roaring crowd, who was completely in his corner, he said the following thing that caught my attention.
