No one should shed a tear over Megyn Kelly’s abrupt downfall. But we should at least acknowledge t he real reason why her days at…
No one should shed a tear over Megyn Kelly’s abrupt downfall. But we should at least acknowledge t he real reason why her days at NBC News are numbered.
Although NBC honchos will predictably use the news anchor’s recent “ blackface controversy ” as a pretext t o justify her term ination, Kelly’s real sin was no t going all-in w hen the #MeT oo mob sought Justice Brett Kavanaugh’s scalp.
In politically charged eras, people who straddle both sides of the fence frequently get torn apart. This is what is happening to Kelly, who naively believed th at th e liberals who run NBC would respect her conservative -lite viewpoints a fter she departed Fox News. B ut, i nstead, her new bosses wanted her to submit body and soul to their l iberal ideology.
W hen t he high-priced anchor failed to do so — most notably by reminding her audiences that “ not all women tell the truth “ and by pointing out the massive credibility issues with Justice Kavanaugh-accuser Julie Swetnick, her days at NBC were numbered.
In many ways, Kelly’s fate confirms an observation made in the afterma th of the French Revolution: left ist revolutions “ devour their own.” For several years, Kelly served as a leading voice in the #MeT oo mo vem ent. L iberals first swoon ed over her in 2015 when she criticized then- candidate Donald Trump dur ing the first GOP presidential debate.
Holding herself out as a champion of “ female empowerment,” Kelly was quickly lionized in the press, with Vanity Fair putt ing the Fox News host on its front cover and applauding her for “ a string of satisfying male-ego deflations .”
Thus, b y opposing Trum p and “ powerful white men” in general, Kelly instantly transformed herself into “ a feminist icon of sorts,” glowingly described by liberal s as “a woman of preternatural charisma, with star power closer t o that of Julia Roberts than to… other beautiful TV newswomen who have made it big but have never exactly exploded.”
Kelly also en amored liberals by public ly castrating high-profile figures at Fox News — men who had made her career ascent possib le. L ike a female Brutus stabbing Caesar, Kelly blindsided Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes before his pa ssing by claiming the senior citizen had physically assaulted and sexually harassed her.
And, not content with shank ing Ailes — w ho had defend ed Kelly when she tussled with Trump — s he also stabb ed Bill O’Reilly in the back, accusing him of harassing women, even though she had previously sent him a handwritten note thanking O’Reilly for being a “ true friend and mentor ” and for support ing her for many years.
Kelly’s Faustian bargain — p ortraying herself as a victim and champion of other victims — was initially paid off handsomely because l iberals love fake victims. Just ask Ta-Nehisi Coates, Serena Williams and the Black Lives Matter organization.
S o, upon departing Fox News, K elly received a whopping three-year deal for $69 million from NBC executives. But, despite this expensive dowry, Kelly’s new marr iage was star-crossed from the beginning.
Unfortunately for the news starlet, d espite her clashes with Trump many liberals still harbored a grudge against her for having espoused conservative views at Fox News. As a result, h er NBC show initially had feeble ratings.
It wasn’t until the # MeToo movement took off with accusations against Harvey Weinstein that new life was breathed into her show. S hrewdly, Kelly “ doubled down of the topic of sexual harassment and sexual assault ” and her ratings surged.
O nce again, she was donn ing the mantle of victimhood, thereby remind ing liberals that she could be a useful blonde battering ram against “ white male privilege .” Yet, having made her bed on a platform of victimhood and liberal outrage, Kelly refused to lie in it completely. T herein lay the roots of her d ownfall.
In particular, during t he political circus that surrounded Justice Kavanaugh’s confirmation hearings, Kelly did not act or talk like liberals want vi ctims to act. She correctly mocked as “ absurd ” the idea that all women should be believed, e ven if there is no evidence. And she dared to defend “ due process ” in the face of a liberal mob salivating at the prospect of prevent ing Kavanaugh from ascending to the Supreme Court.
Kelly also accurately pointed out that the Obama administration had “swung the pendulum too far back against the accused, completely eroding their due process rights” on college campuses.
For espousing such “moderate” views and for failing to completely embrace the #Me Too mob mentality, Kelly will likely be kicked out of the bed she made for herself at NBC. Her comeuppance is reminiscent of the French moderates who initially led the mob against the monarchy but were later guillotined by their own followers for not being radical enough.
Like those leaders, Kelly rose to the top by embracing the #MeToo movement’s rabid attacks on “male privilege, ” but when faced with its extremist message of # BelieveAllWomen she hes itated—a nd ended up trampled upon by the same mob she sought to lead .
The blackface controver s y i s just the nail in the coffin. After all, w hen liberals trust a fellow die-hard liberal, they quickly forgive or bury their racial gaffes. Just ask Chelsea Handler, Joe Biden or the Clintons.
Nick James is the nom de plume of a trial attorney in the D. C. area who formerly worked for the United States Department of Justice as an award-winning federal prosecutor.
The views and opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author and do not reflect the official position of The Daily Caller.
