SiriusXM’s Megyn Kelly said Tuesday on her podcast that she refuses “to be the CNN of Trump 2.0” on the “Epstein files,” adding that journalists have an “obligation” to “not just trust” politicians over it.
Since July 6, the Trump administration has faced major backlash from Republicans over the Department of Justice’s (DOJ’s) quietly released memo about the FBI and its investigation into deceased pedophile Jeffrey Epstein. On “The Megyn Kelly Show,” Kelly said some Republicans are no longer pushing the issue, following President Donald Trump’s efforts to move away from it.
“I will state for the record, I have lots of friends inside the administration. I have nothing but respect and admiration for this president,” Kelly said. “But I’m in a different business. I am in the journalism business. My position is you can trust, but you must verify. And I refuse, refuse to be the CNN of Trump 2.0, where they just trusted the administration on Biden’s mental acuity, and, willingly, by doing so ignored the biggest crisis and controversy and scandal in modern presidential history.”
“That’s not what’s happening under Trump. But I’m just saying journalists, people like me who do consider themselves as journalists, you have an obligation not to just trust,” Kelly added. “You kick the tires. That’s your job. You approach all stories and everything fed to you by an administration official, like them, love them, respect them, trust them or not with a hefty dose of skepticism. And you drill down and drill down and drill down until you think you’ve actually captured the story. That’s what we’re going to do.”
Republicans and major Trump supporters like TPUSA’s founder Charlie Kirk, Daily Caller News Foundation co-founder Tucker Carlson and Republican House Speaker Mike Johnson have called on the administration to show “transparency” regarding the remaining documents. (RELATED: Thomas Massie Says He Will Force Vote On Releasing Epstein Files)
WATCH:
Within the DOJ’s memo, first obtained by Axios, the FBI said, after an exhaustive review, Epstein had no “client list” and that there was no foul play in his death in 2019. The memo was released alongside more than 10 hours of “raw and enhanced” video footage from outside Epstein’s cell at the New York Metropolitan Correctional Center. Questions about a missing minute in the video footage, however, began to circulate.
As a reporter attempted to ask Bondi about the issue on July 8, Trump stepped in and asked why the media was “still talking” about Epstein. Trump instead tried to talk about the natural disaster in Texas that killed more than 100 people. Bondi later said the missing minute was due to the correctional center’s cameras resetting each night.
Kelly went on to say she’s not “obsessed” with Epstein but simply wants to “get to the bottom” of the lingering questions. The SiriusXM host pointed out that CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson released a book in May that raised concerns about former President Joe Biden’s mental fitness during his time in the White House.
Republicans had warned about Biden’s mental decline prior to the 2020 election, but Democrats dismissed them. Former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre labeled videos of Biden stumbling and misspeaking as “cheap fakes.”
Media pundits like Tapper had previously defended Biden and shut down arguments about Biden’s mental state.
“But we are going to try to get to the bottom of what’s knowable now that they’re telling us there’s no there there? For me, that’s just a red cape in front of a bull. I understand some people [are] like ‘Don’t do it. You don’t want to hurt Trump.’ I don’t think this will hurt Trump,” Kelly said. “I think non-disclosure and non-transparency is hurting Trump. But I’m also not in the business of protecting Donald Trump. Again, that’s what The New York Times does for a Democrat.”
“That’s not me. That’s not any honest journalist. I am not going on some media tour in four years with Alex Thompson trying to have to explain how I’m shocked, shocked that there wasn’t full disclosure under Trump on Epstein,” Kelly said. “I guess I was just too naive. I believe this is humiliating. This scandal is nowhere near, nowhere near what the Biden mental acuity scandal was. But I’m just saying it’s a time for choosing for people who consider themselves honest journalists. And you don’t back off a story just because a politician asks you to.”
With pushback against Bondi continuing, Trump released a statement Saturday defending the attorney general and criticizing the ongoing questions surrounding the deceased pedophile. Speaking to reporters while leaving the White House Tuesday, Trump again praised how he said Bondi has handled the case, adding that “whatever she thinks is credible, she should release.”
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