The fourth Republican primary debate, which was aired by NewsNation on Wednesday, began with Megyn Kelly pressing the candidates to respond to specific allegations made against them.
It remains a significant achievement for Ms. Kelly, whose career collapsed when NBC terminated her program in 2018 due to her remarks regarding the permissibility of white individuals dressing in blackface for Halloween. The reason for her dismissal was her low viewership and a string of events that seemed to indicate her direct and aggressive manner was not well suited for the calm and peaceful morning television.
After a while, the 53-year-old Ms. Kelly reappeared as a conservative radio host and podcaster, feeding the flames of the culture war complaints that were her specialty at Fox. (Her latest posts on X condemn the term “pregnant person” and allude to “mask fascists.”) After agreeing to a contract with SiriusXM in 2021, she has hired notable guests, such as Mr. Trump in September, and her news podcasts have risen to the Top 10 lists.
Her perspective stands in stark contrast to the unwavering excitement of NewsNation executives and anchors, who view Wednesday’s event in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, as a game-changing occasion. In order to obtain the broadcast rights for this week’s discussion, NewsNation, which is owned by the Nexstar Media Group and provides 24-hour news coverage on weekdays, outwitted more well-known organisations like ABC and Newsmax.
The moderators of the fourth and final GOP primary debate, Megyn Kelly vowed Wednesday night, would delve into the “issue” of gender-affirming care for transgender children. However, her promise soon backfired, with some Republicans on stage disparaging gay Americans and chanting about helpless children.
Why it matters: Due to the drastic tightening of debate standards, each contender may face intense scrutiny.
- Kelly added that businessman Vivek Ramaswamy had run on a platform of unity during his campaign, but in the previous debates, he had targeted rivals.
“Can you see how this has led some to conclude you are not in fact a unifier and to question your authenticity,” said Kelly.
In response, Ramaswamy said, “I believe everything has its proper time and place.” “We need somebody in the White House who absolutely is going to be a fighter when it counts.”
He brought up the fact that he had mentioned “there were some good people” on stage during the third debate. “Doug Burgum was on that stage,” he continued. To put it lightly, Ron DeSantis is also a decent man.
- In 2018, former UN ambassador Nikki Haley departed the government with a $100,000 bank account. She is apparently earning $8 million now, five years later, “thanks to lucrative corporate speeches and board memberships,” Kelly claimed.
Haley spoke with powerful Wall Street figures in recent weeks, according to Kelly, and a number of “billionaire investors are reportedly ready to endorse you or have – all of which comes with expectations.”
“Aren’t you too tight with the banks and the billionaires to win over the GOP’s working class base?” Kelly queried.
Regarding corporate assistance, Haley said, “We’ll accept it…. I never inquire about their policies. “They inquired about my policies,” she remarked. “They don’t always agree with me, but occasionally they do… That is unimportant. I am that person.”
- After endorsing Trump in the past, former New Jersey governor Chris Christie “turned on him,” Kelly said, adding, “you’ve even said that you got into this race just to stop President Trump.”
“Voters may wonder how you could possibly become the nominee of a party that does not appear to like you very much?” Kelly queried.
“The fact is that when you go and you say the truth about somebody who is a dictator, a bully, who has taken shots at everybody, whether they’ve given him great service or not, over time, who dares to disagree with him?” Christie answered.
He gestured to the other three finalists, indicating that they were unwilling to discuss Trump. Christie speculated, “Maybe it’s because they have goals for the future.”
He’s not suitable,” Christie went on. This is a man who recently declared that, once he gains access to the Department of Justice, he intends to use it to pursue his adversaries. This race has no more pressing issues.
- Kelly stated that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis had invested the greatest amount of money in his campaign, began the contest with a wave of support, and was “viewed by many as the candidate most likely to consolidate the non-Trump field.”
However, she continued, “you haven’t succeeded. Could you claim that voters are telling you, “No, but not right now?”
“So we have a great idea in America that the voters actually make these decisions, not pundits or pollsters,” DeSantis responded.
He went on, “I’m tired of hearing about these polls,” adding that in November 2022, the polls had forecast a red wave, which had not materialised.
