Fox News Anchor Megyn Kelly Comes Out as an Independent
In a lengthy sit-down interview for this week’s Variety cover story, Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly revealed that she doesn’t belong to either party.
“I’m an independent,” Kelly said, adding that she’s voted for both Democrats and Republicans.
Pundits have long speculated about Kelly’s political affiliation, because she often sounds liberal on social issues, but conservative on fiscal ones. Kelly believes her lack of political ideology makes her a more effective reporter.
“I’m not rooting for anybody,” she says. “I’m a Fox News anchor, and I have no horse in the race. I can give anyone a hard time.”
When asked if she considers herself a journalist or a personality, Kelly says, “I don’t really separate the two. I just think of myself as Megyn Kelly — broadcaster. You can do both.”
Kelly also talked about the fact that, contrary to the perception in the media, not everybody at Fox is a Republican.
“[Sean] Hannity, who follows me, is obviously a conservative ideologue and is open about that,” she said. “Bill [O’Reilly] is very open about the opinions he has. I think he’s more of a populist. I think Greta [Van Susteren] is a liberal, although I’m not sure. Bret Baier, I have no idea what his political stripes are.”
Kelly said that when she interviewed with the network a decade ago, Fox News chairman Roger Ailes never posed any questions about how she voted.
“Nobody asked me about my political stripes,” Kelly says. “When Roger Ailes hired me, he knew I was the daughter of a college professor and a nurse. There was nothing in this resume that would telegraph, ‘She’s a secret conservative.’”
She says she’s never been told to go easy on Republican guests. “There have been so many times when I challenged Republicans on air — in big moments,” she says. “And my boss keeps promoting me.”
For more about Kelly, read this week’s Variety cover story.
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