Journalist and former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly got slammed for her comments about the U.S. Capitol riot that took place on January 6, 2021.
The riot, which many consider to be a scheme concocted by former president Donald Trump, involved Trump supporters, QAnoners, and Proud Boys storming the U.S. Capitol building in Washington, DC.
There, the rioters committed crimes such as theft, property damage, assaulting law enforcement, and conspiracy. Some rioters even urinated and defecated on the floors. The attack led lawmakers to barricade themselves in the House chambers in fear for their safety.
Hey @megynkelly, you\u2019re advocating for these traitors? \u201cNot so bad?\u201d You\u2019re an embarrassment to the nation. Shame on you.https://twitter.com/macfarlanenews/status/1413557951898476552\u00a0\u2026— Sophia Bush (@Sophia Bush) 1626200664
The attack resulted in five deaths including police officer Brian Sicknick.
Regarding the Capitol riots, Megyn Kelly says "the media represented it as so much worse than it actually was." By showing video footage of police officers being attacked and killed— Paul Rudnick (@Paul Rudnick) 1626183569
The riot has been deemed an attack of domestic terrorism by the FBI.
Megyn Kelly exemplifies how you can take the girl out of Fox News, but you can't take the Fox News out of the girl.— Victoria Brownworth #GetVaccinatedNOW (@Victoria Brownworth #GetVaccinatedNOW) 1625601808
Kelly, however, insists that the January 6 attack simply wasn't that big of a deal and argues that the media made the event look 'worse than it actually was.'
"A faction turned," Kelly said in her podcast, The Megyn Kelly Show. "But there's no question the media represented this as so much worse than it actually was."
Despite the five lives lost, the damage done, and the event being labeled as a terrorist attack, Kelly is adamant that the event simply wasn't that bad. She said that the media coverage only served to portray the attack in a bad light and insisted that what took place on January 6 wasn't even an insurrection.
"We've all seen the video of people, like, screaming in the face of cops, being totally disparaging, and defecating on the floor of the U.S. Capitol, and lawmakers were understandably afraid, not like [Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez saying] 'I need therapy for the rest of my life' afraid, but I could understand it, and I didn't like seeing it at all."
Dear Megyn Kelly: I reviewed a lot of videos and evidence for the second impeachment trial. The most accurate way I can say this is that you have no idea what you are talking about. 140 police officers were injured, some critically. People died. Why are you downplaying Jan 6?https://twitter.com/mediaite/status/1414879777849102340\u00a0\u2026— Ted Lieu (@Ted Lieu) 1626199203
Kelly is insisting that the shocking and distasteful footage the media displayed was just the result of 'a few bad apples' who gave the event a bad name, and that the participants in the siege were mostly good people. She even went so far as say the Capitol rioters were just 'tourists.'
"They got tarred by the actions of some losers who went a different way," she said. "And then the media did what it does, which is any bad behavior gets attributed to the entire group of Trump supporters."
Kelly even denied the attack being related to Trump in any way, despite the fact that Trump commanded his supporters to go down to the Capitol building where the election results were being verified and "fight like hell."
Since her statement, Kelly has been getting absolutely slammed with backlash on Twitter:
Megyn Kelly said the media over hyped Jan 6th to make it look worse than it was. I watched it happen on TV, she must have been watching Sesame Street.— Amy Lynn\ud83e\udde6\u2764\ufe0f (@Amy Lynn\ud83e\udde6\u2764\ufe0f) 1626186761
Megyn Kelly has sided with the insurrectionists by whitewashing the seriousness of this attack on the country.— Alexandra Chalupa (@Alexandra Chalupa) 1626201740
NBC paid megyn kelly $70M to NOT be on tv, stop giving her another platform to lie— Ned Pyle (@Ned Pyle) 1626191285
How can Megyn Kelly say the media represented the January 6th riots for worse than what it was when we all saw with our own eyes what was happening?— Erie Siobhan is Vaxxed to the Max \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8 (@Erie Siobhan is Vaxxed to the Max \ud83c\uddfa\ud83c\uddf8) 1626183997
It *was* an insurrection, because the explicit purpose of the violent attack\u2014which included chemical weapons, paramilitary tactics & kidnapping & assassination plots\u2014was to obstruct the Constitutional process to install an unelected autocrat. It was a terrorist coup attempt.— Joseph Robertson (@Joseph Robertson) 1626206599
Kelly is no stranger to receiving backlash on her controversial opinions. In fact, Kelly has recently switched jobs--from NBC to hosting her own radio show--after being let go by NBC for making unsavory racial remarks surrounding the use of blackface.
Now, many Twitter users are boycotting SiriusXM, a well-known satellite radio broadcasting company, for recently signing the exclusive partnership with Kelly to host her radio show.
.@SIRIUSXM just signed a deal with Megyn Kelly \u2014 who is now lying about and defending the domestic terrorist attack on the U.S. Capitol. Deplorable.— Kaivan Shroff (@Kaivan Shroff) 1626184333
thanks for reminding me to cancel my @SIRIUSXM subscription. 8 years and all it took was you.— alecnayalex (@alecnayalex) 1625595309
@SIRIUSXM thanks for making me feel better about not renewing\u2026 no way I\u2019d want to be a subscriber helping support this.— George (@George) 1625592259
Is this apropos of y'all hiring white supremacist domestic terrorist @megynkelly ? I can't tell if you're clueless or cynical and I'd appreciate it if you cleared that up for me.— Paypal Bull he/him/his (@Paypal Bull he/him/his) 1626199897
That's it. I'm done with @SIRIUSXM. Spewing more lies that will spark more violence is malicious and unacceptable.— Patty Rose (@Patty Rose) 1626186700
Although the footage showed during the riots was live and unedited, Kelly is digging her heels in and remains insistent that the media is at fault for making the January 6 attack seem 'worse than it was.' Whatever you say, Megyn.