Megyn Kelly’s new show on NBC only started on Sunday, and it’s already in trouble. As Newsday reported, the former Fox News anchor’s show is “off to a rough start.”
Kelly, who now makes almost $20 million per year after leaving her Fox News contract, started her show featuring an interview with Russian President Vladimir Putin with clumsy magazine-show segments about an addictive drug produced by Insys Therapeutics and an unrelated piece from Harry Smith about elephant poaching in Kenya.
The whole thing was just strange, and is a sign that the show isn’t destined for success. Then, Putin clearly outmaneuvered Kelly during the interview:
Her lead-off piece was about the second most famous leader on the planet, Vladmir Putin. For her, the results were mixed. For Putin, the result was a slam dunk.
In a wide-ranging interview that led Kelly’s inaugural broadcast, Putin spoke at length and unchallenged — and even appeared to have mastered a skill that American pundits spend years developing, the “pull-out quote,” AKA the memorable soundbite:
“You people are so creative over there,” he quipped. “Good job. Your lives must be boring.”
Then, this one: “Have you all lost your senses over there?”
Good job, indeed. Maybe Putin missed his calling — as a U.S. cable news primetime host.
The best part of Kelly’s inaugural “Sunday Night with Megyn Kelly” began in the opening moments, with Kelly moderating a panel at the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum. Cue to a tight shot of Kelly, who explained that the “normally wonkish” discussion became “heated” when she asked Putin about cyber interference in the U.S. election: “I saw what was happening,” he said, via the translator. “It was a big surprise for me too. What they are saying is just nuts. I never know where people spreading disinformation is coming from.”
Corey R. Lewandowski, President Donald Trump’s former campaign manager, had fun tweeting out the bad news about Kelly to his 251,000 social media followers:
Megyn Kelly off to rough start with NBC show’s premiere | Newsday https://t.co/Yd4bLU5hxM
— Corey R. Lewandowski (@CLewandowski_) June 5, 2017
The interview was panned elsewhere, as well. The Los Angeles Times’s mocked the weak questions and their TV critic noted Kelly is “not a great interviewer.”
One would have thought Megyn Kelly, who had serious public battles with now-President Donald Trump during the 2016 primary, would have done everything she could use to the interview with Putin to embarrass Trump. She tired, but failed.
What do you think about Megyn Kelly’s weak debut of her new show? Please leave us a comment (below) and tell us.
