The Manipulative Feminism of Megyn Kelly

From the American Spectator:

“It is incomprehensible,” Bill O’Reilly says of Megyn Kelly’s attack on him this week. No, it is entirely comprehensible, given that her show, aimed largely at liberal women, is tanking. By playing the feminist card again and pandering to her audience, she hopes to revive her flagging show. 

But it won’t work. 

Her tremulously delivered, overly dramatic monologue about O’Reilly — “his suggestion that no one complained about his behavior is false; I know, because I complained” — was typically manipulative, misleading, and narcissistic. 

The “behavior” to which she so darkly referred didn’t include sexual harassment at all. It referred to his appearance on a television show during which he declined to answer any questions about her memoirs. He begged off, saying that he had no “interest” in badmouthing his employer. 

That didn’t sit well with Kelly, who felt that he should have praised her book and its trashing of Roger Ailes. Seeing a chance to throw her weight around during contract renegotiations, she then fired off a letter of complaint to Fox News executives. Kelly recounted all of this self-centered back-and-forth with deep sighs, as if she had suffered an enormous, traumatizing wrong. 

Of course, she had to present what amounts to nothing more than trivial personal pique in grand feminist terms, with all the usual blather about the “message” O’Reilly’s “behavior” sent. 

In response to Kelly’s monologue, O’Reilly’s lawyer released a fawning note Kelly once wrote O’Reilly after he promoted her husband’s book on his show. The note captures what a two-faced phony Kelly can be: 

“Thanks for the play on Doug’s book. I realize you didn’t have to do that, especially after mentioning it already. I appreciate how supportive you have been over the years here @FNC. You are a true friend + mentor.” 

Kelly’s attempt to put herself in the middle of the “discussion about sexual harassment” only undercuts its seriousness, reducing it to bickering among overpaid, egotistical celebrities. Lost in all the ponderous talk about the need for “systemic change” is the glaring irony that figures such as Megyn Kelly gained, not lost, jobs from that system. Were that system abolished, Megyn Kelly wouldn’t have a career.

GO READ THE WHOLE THING.