Megyn Kelly Goes Viral for Argument with Student over Trump, Charlie Kirk’s Death
NEED TO KNOW
- Megyn Kelly got into a debate with a college student who implied that President Donald Trump’s rhetoric since the assassination of Charlie Kirk has created a dangerous political environment for liberal voices
- The pair exchanged several heated remarks on Sept. 24 before the student ultimately walked away
- Kelly was visiting Virginia Tech University as a speaker on Turning Point’s college tour, which resumed 12 days after Kirk was fatally shot during one of the events
Megyn Kelly wound up in a heated debate with a student when she stepped in for the late Charlie Kirk on his fall college tour.
The 54-year-old conservative commentator is one of many high-profile guests who have been tapped to visit college campuses in Kirk’s place, after he was fatally shot while speaking during the first tour stop at Utah Valley University on Sept. 10.
During her event at Virginia Tech University on Sept. 24, a student stepped up to a microphone and asked Kelly a question about Kirk’s death and President Donald Trump‘s involvement in the heated political environment.
“I want to know why you support a president who contributes to the rhetoric that got your friend Charlie Kirk killed. We saw his rally recently. He said, ‘I hate my enemies,’ ” the student recalled, adding, “[White House deputy chief of staff] Stephen Miller said similar things.”
The student reiterated, “How can you support him when he contributed to what got Charlie killed?”
Kelly rebutted, saying that the student’s argument “assumes facts, not evidence.”
“What you said is not true,” she asserted.
The student cited a study that was recently deleted by the Department of Justice, which decisively stated that right-wing political violence is much more common than left-wing violence, on which Kirk’s assassination has been blamed.
The student alleged that the DOJ’s decision to remove the study was because the department was “delusional.”
Kelly denied the study’s findings, saying, “That’s not true. Once you pull the crazies out of there, it is overwhelmingly left-wing violence.”
She continued, saying, “You know, this is how we get here. So, first of all, let me take on the first premise of your question: That it was President Trump’s rhetoric that led to an assassin killing our friend Charlie Kirk. That’s a blatant lie. It’s a defamatory, blaspheme, and it’s inappropriate in this setting.”
The student clarified that they said Trump “contributed” to political tension with his comments, which Kelly called an “utterly empty” point.
“Let’s just make clear; this guy was motivated by leftist ideology. We know it from the bullet casings. We know it from the Utah governor. We know it from his own mother. Yes, we do. Let’s be really clear on that,” she said, referencing bits of evidence that have been made public about the suspected shooter, despite officials holding off on revealing a specific motive.
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Pressing Kelly, the student responded, “Even if that’s true, does that make it okay for the sitting president of the United States to incite violence against liberals?”
“The president of the United States has not accepted violence against liberals,” Kelly claimed, defending Trump’s recent comment at Kirk’s memorial service, when he said he has “hate” for his enemies.
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Trump’s remark came shortly after Kirk’s wife, Erika, said through tears that she “forgives” her husband’s killer.
“The president of the United States made a joke at the Charlie Kirk memorial, which was funny and self-deprecating,” Kelly told the Virginia Tech student, claiming that Trump’s statement was “playing off of what Erika said.”
“He said, ‘We disagree. I need to try to do better. Erika’s going to try to convince me, but I’m in a different place.’ And that’s completely normal for a politician to be thinking about his political fights,” Kelly continued.
“And by the way, Trump has every right to loathe his enemies,” she added. “They tried to put him in jail for the rest of his life. They tried to bankrupt [him]. They tried to put his family in jail, and they tried to kill him.”
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The student replied that Trump was “rightfully” treated harshly, since, “He’s a criminal.” Kelly gave the student the opportunity to continue speaking, but they instead thanked her for her time and walked away from the microphone.
While some members of the audience seemed unhappy with the student, Kelly ultimately defended the discourse, saying, “It’s good to have some folks come up and disagree.”
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