Photo by Gage Skidmore
Christine Flowers: Megyn Kelly’s platform is powerful — but her silence speaks louder
Megyn Kelly first came on my radar screen about twenty years ago, around the time that the Duke Lacrosse scandal erupted. She was a street reporter on Fox News, and I think she was still using her old married name, Megyn Kendall. One night I was watching a report about those poor boys, and she gave what I thought was one of the most intelligent and unbiased explanations of the legal, and moral, issues. From that moment on, I was a semi-fan.
I say “semi,” because I didn’t really watch a lot of Fox in those days. It’s not that I was against the network, although Sean Hannity annoyed me from day one. I wasn’t that politically plugged in twenty years ago, and preferred to immerse myself in whatever “Law and Order” episode or franchise was playing in prime time. But I was aware that there was a smart blonde lawyer making her way up the media career ladder, and I admired her from afar.
Then, she moved over to NBC after tiring of her title as the Conservative Contessa, and dipped her lovely toes in the main, um, stream. As we all know, that didn’t go too well, after the liberal haters wrongly accused her of being a bigot. She correctly stated that Santa Claus, a Scandinavian who lived in an igloo, was not black. That got her more than one lump of coal, and she was effectively canceled. That made me an even bigger fan, because of the way she flipped the bird to the woke folk.
And then during the dark days of Covid, Megyn was a beacon of light, sanity and entertainment when she started a podcast that I listened to religiously. I brushed my teeth to Megyn, did two hundred daily sit-ups to Megyn, blow-dried my hair to Megyn, did my 10,000 steps to Megyn, and fell asleep to her dulcet voice warning us about trans ideology. She was a bit weak on abortion, choosing not to come out as pro-life because she sensed that her more moderate listeners would lump her with we, the crazy anti-abortion zealots, but she was on the right side of history on most things.
Then came the day when some people on the right started doing what some people on the left had always done, and began to open their minds to crazy conspiracies. The first time I realized that something was terribly wrong was when I saw people nodding their heads to Candace Owens, who simply cannot hide her anti-Semitism. Candace is in some ways a black Megyn, who rode the conservative tide to relevance. Her whole “Blexit” con was about how black people needed to turn their backs on liberalism. The problem is that Candace was once a very liberal, very BLM sort of chick, and she only became “conservative” when she saw how much money and celebrity she could gain by courting the disaffected people on our side of the divide.
The difference between Candace and Megyn, however, is that Megyn is both book smart and street savvy. Candace, for all of her pretensions at being learned, is all about the grift. I never believed that Megyn said things simply to get ahead. I believed, and at some level still believe, that she does in fact have a moral core and an inner North Star.
And she has done many good things, including platforming my friend Joseph Massey, a brilliant poet who was almost destroyed by the MeToo movement but who rose from the ashes like a literary Phoenix. Ironically, Megyn got some left wing cred by turning on Roger Ailes in her own MeToo moment.
But this past week, she has decided to dig in her heels and refuse to distance herself from her good friend Tucker Carlson and by extension, her sort of friend Candace Owens. The latter was dumped from the most conservative of conservative platforms, the Daily Wire, for her own refusal to distance herself from the mentally ill but morally confused Kanye West.
As far as Tucker, the guy filmed himself in Russia praising Putin, and he also has a problem with “hummus eaters” which I take to mean “The Jews Who Killed Jesus,” so I’m surprised he still has any friends left.
When criticized about her refusal to criticize them, Megyn tweeted this. You can almost see her stomping her cute little toddler feet, in lacy anklet socks:
“Look at this. No, I have no obligation to “separate” myself from anyone. I run my own media company and my own show. That show is where I express my own opinions and I will decide what/what not to opine on. If you need me to condemn Candace or Tucker for their opinions in order to listen to me, then I may not be for you. He’s a close friend and she is under enough pressure w/o gratuitous shots from me. My fight is with the left, not these two.”
And I yelled back at my iPhone, “no Megyn, we are better than that. Your fight, our fight, is with bigots and human rights violators and really bad people, no matter what side they are on.”
And the people on the subway, who never followed Megyn in the first place, looked at me as if I was crazy.
I know that there will still be conservatives who will follow Ms. Kelly. She has a huge fan base, and doesn’t need me. She has absolutely no idea who I am, even though I am likely six degrees of separation removed from her husband Doug who grew up on the Main Line.
But I am done with pretending that she has anything of value to say, when she is incapable of using her powerful platform to fumigate the moral decay on the right, and only worries about zapping flies on the left.
I’ll miss the Megyn who fought for the rights of the Duke boys. I’ll pass on this updated version.
Christine Flowers is an attorney and lifelong Philadelphian. Follow her on Twitter/X at @flowerlady61.
Who would admire a joke like Megyn Kelly to begin with? Not a week goes by when a viral moment of her screaming “F you” to a random person appears. No woman with an ounce of dignity or class would resort to such unhinged behavior. After poor Charlie Kirk was assassinated she couldn’t wait to exploit his death for political fodder. She didn’t blame the evil loon who actually assassinated Charlie. She blamed it on “them” and “they” – meaning all Democrats. She let the actual assassin off the hook by doing that. She used the tragedy to divide America for her podcast ratings. Poor Charlie deserved better.
I agreed Rose. But in terms of my admiration, it was before I truly knew her. She was simply an arriviste journalist wannabe who had some good thoughts. This was twenty years ago. Now she gives wet kisses to bigots. At least I can evolve. Most of the anti semites on the right and left are hopeless cases and should be shunned
Most? What portion of so-called antisemites should not be shunned? Do you mean the people from a September 2025 poll by The Washington Post which found 48% of American Jews opposed Israel’s current military actions in Gaza? That same poll found a majority of American Jews were critical of Israel’s conduct, with 61% saying Israel has committed war crimes against Palestinians. Are Jews critical of the gov of Israel the “antisemites” that do not fall into your “most” definition? A significant portion of 39% (of American Jews) in that same poll said Israel was guilty of genocide.
People like you are cowards because you let the smear of being called a racist or antisemite cower you and censor an actual discussion of facts. Here are the some inconvenient facts anyone can check: 1. Larry Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation, which was initially created to develop a database for the CIA, making the agency its first customer. This connection played a significant role in the early success of Oracle and Ellison’s rise as a billionaire. 2. Larry Ellison and Benjamin Netanyahu have a connection through their interactions in business and politics, including Ellison reportedly offering Netanyahu a board seat at Oracle while also being a witness in Netanyahu’s corruption trial. Additionally, they have vacationed together, highlighting their personal relationship as well. 3. Larry Ellison is involved in significant media consolidation efforts, particularly through Oracle’s role in acquiring TikTok’s U.S. operations, which will allow him to influence social media content and algorithms. This move is part of a broader trend of ethno-narcist billionaires gaining control over major media platforms in the U.S. 4. At Oracle’s financial analyst meeting last September, he predicted artificial intelligence will help process the vast amounts of footage recorded by cameras placed on everything from car dashboards and front doors to security systems and cops. “We’re going to have supervision,” Ellison said. “Every police officer is going to be supervised at all times, and if there’s a problem, AI will report that problem and report it to the appropriate person. Citizens will be on their best behavior because we are constantly recording and reporting everything that’s going on.”
You want critics of the government of Israel, who have an inappropriate level of influence within the United States, to just be quiet because it upsets you. My suggestion is put your head back into the sand, stay inside for two weeks to flatten the curve, and mask up.
I think she’s saying most are hopeless, while some may be recovered, and without a path they are all lost.
“And I yelled back at my iPhone, ‘no Megyn, we are better than that. Your fight, our fight, is with bigots and human rights violators and really bad people, no matter what side they are on.’”
I think this is beautiful, and a wonderful thought, and I disagree strongly with most of your opinions. I hope you don’t take this as personal attack, although it may be a little, but this is a big part of the problem. There shouldn’t even be sides to be on. We disagree about some, but not all things. That’s it. Then it becomes exaggerated into “sides.” Megyn genuinely impressed me when she was actually challenging Trump and holding him accountable for some of the things he’d said and done in the past, leading to a “feud,” which is absurd. A journalist asking a question about past words and actions is the point of journalism – investigating, reporting, etc.
But shortly after, she bent over. Or she did it for the attention, because suddenly all the terrible things that she previously cared about, no longer mattered, and she continued her life being friends with people who would continue to say and do these terrible things. Just like Candace. She is a media prostitute, and one of the worst I’ve ever seen (which one am I talking about?).
My point becomes that often times, we all find ourselves discovering “a beacon of light, sanity and entertainment,” and lose or forego that critical eye for a superficial reading of the text. Santa Clause “was a Scandinavian who lived in an igloo?” I mean, you KNOW that’s wrong; Nicholas of Bari was from Patara in Turkey, and of Greek descent, Father Christmas was Anglo-Saxon or Norman, and while Sinterklaas and Wodin were sort of Scandinavian I guess (one being Turkish Nick again, and the other being a god), none lived in an igloo, and Santa KlausTM by Coca Cola has an entire workshop.
You speak to Megyn standing by terrible friends like Tucker and Candace in the same breath as “Joseph Massey, a brilliant poet who was almost destroyed by the MeToo movement but who rose from the ashes like a literary Phoenix,” a man who admitted to many of the things he was accused of to Megyn! And I don’t know the man, maybe he’s a saint, but frankly, I don’t care. I simply find it fascinating that you came so close to epiphany, then immediately swerved away from self-realization.
“I am done with pretending that she has anything of value to say, when she is incapable of using her powerful platform to fumigate the moral decay on the right, and only worries about zapping flies on the left.”
It’s not until it’s a topic we actually care about that we can see right and wrong, or at the very least step outside the echo chamber, if only very briefly.
And I’m sorry if this comes as a personal attack, this is the first article of yours I’ve ever read, and it is truly truly fascinating. It is very intelligent, well written, full of insight, humor, depth, earnestness, and so much more, and I intend on reading more of your work. I’m enthralled by the cognitive dissonance; its still a superficial reading, but its not usually so well thought out and eloquent, although I suppose we can’t all be quite so laconic as Karolyn Leavitt.
It’s still beautiful thought, though, so thank you for that.
Where is your objective perspective? Arguments about Israel split into two extremes—pro-Israel “ethno-narcissists” who label any criticism of the government of Israel as hate speech, and actual racists who blame all Jews collectively. If you were born before the 1980s, they used to teach you that immoral behavior or virtues are not genetic and they are not inherited; they stem from actions and choices. Unfortunately, these days in public school they teach our children to focus on genetics and immutable characteristics rather than an individual’s character and individual action. Certain stereotypes unfortunately persist because less than ideal cultural upbringing gets passed to the next generation: e.g., “snitches get stiches” or “they did an Irish goodbye.”
The government of Israel needs U.S. support because they have an insignificant population, have limited resources, and lack the ability to defend themselves without U.S. help. The government of Israel has gone to great pains to purchase most US politicians and corporate leaders thru various means: political donations, outright business deals, extortion, spying, etc. Unfortunately, we have too many dual citizens of Israel in positions of U.S. power, as well as influential US citizens, who are ethno-narcissists and make no distinction between the government of Israel and being culturally Jewish. Despite living in the U.S., despite being avowed atheists, they put Israel first over U.S. interests blurring lines between national loyalty and ethnic affinity.
We are not going to change them. They are ignorant bigots. Impressive bigots they may be, but still bigots. We can inform their culturally so-called Christian friends (like Ms. Flowers) who find themselves in an abusive relationship with these atheist ethno-narcissists, wringing their hands and fussing about Tucker and Candace, the old trick of using ad hominem attacks to be called an antisemite or racist, rather than debating the actual ideas, will no longer work on a growing subset of the US population. We want a balanced examination of the U.S.-Israel relationship, grounded in facts, which separates policy debates from personal attacks. The government of Israel knows this, they want to prevent it from happening, and it is a main reason that the government of Israel wants to control Tik Tok and X and other mediums of propaganda.
Criticism, and pointing out the obvious, regarding the corrupt and perverted relationship that the government of Israel has with our US politicians is so frowned upon that normal people in the US will not even dare mention it. You could lose your job or get de-banked, for demanding debate. Oddly, de-banking Kanye West simply made his insane, hateful, and sad messaging louder, and for the undereducated, “proved” most of his points. Censorship does not work except if your goal is tyranny. Debate over ideas allows the better ideas to flourish and pushes society towards progress. Tyranny thrives on suppressed speech; societies advance through rigorous debate.