Megyn Kelly delivered a scathing critique of her former network this week, revealing that Fox News deliberately sidelined conservative leader Charlie Kirk following Tucker Carlson’s departure.
Kelly emphasized the contrast with other outlets, including Newsmax, which welcomed Kirk without interruption.
Kelly, a longtime political commentator and former Fox News anchor, recounted on her podcast, “The Megyn Kelly Show,” that the network treated Kirk as though he belonged to them while simultaneously banning him due to his support for Carlson.
“It’s really bothering me how Fox News is talking about Charlie, like he was theirs — he wasn’t. It’s a lie. Just stop,” Kelly said.
Kelly, who left Fox News in January 2017, detailed that network leadership actively kept Kirk off the air, even while some personalities were friendly with him.
“Fox News, they wouldn’t put Charlie on, OK? I know this from my own behind-the-scenes conversations… But they were annoyed on Team Charlie because he was banned. They wouldn’t put him on. He had been too supportive of Tucker,” she explained.
Kirk’s absence from Fox News was notable throughout 2023 and early 2024.
Kirk himself highlighted the impact in a December 2023 Breitbart interview, noting the lack of Fox News presence at his AmericaFest event in Phoenix.
“We don’t have a single person from Fox here, and in the years past, we have,” Kirk said, per Newsmax. “They’ve been very good to me. I hope we can heal our relationship, because for whatever reason, it’s gone off the reservation.”
He added that the network’s reluctance to feature him stemmed from his support for Carlson.
“Since Tucker’s departure, I haven’t been on. And so we had to do an event without Fox. And that was a great thing, man, because sometimes desperation is the mother of innovation, right?” Kirk said, noting that TPUSA events previously benefited from Fox personalities like Jesse Watters and Greg Gutfeld.
Kelly said Kirk was considered “other” by Fox News, with appearances only occasionally allowed after Carlson’s firing.
“They put him on in July to co-host ‘Fox & Friends,’ which was a shock… They finally caught on to his magic. And they had him on Will Cain’s show, I think, in August. And prior to that, that’s it. Years and years ago,” she said.
Newsmax notes that Kirk’s situation reflected a broader pattern for Trump allies sidelined by Fox News between 2021 and 2024, including Jason Miller, Pam Bondi, Kari Lake, Karoline Leavitt, Peter Navarro, Donald Trump Jr., Rudy Giuliani, Andrew Giuliani and others.
While Fox News denied outright bans, several allies publicly disagreed, and internal lawsuits alleged some individuals were “on and off the banned list.”
Despite Fox’s restrictions, Kirk maintained a strong media presence elsewhere.
Newsmax continually featured Kirk following Trump’s first term, a fact acknowledged by a TPUSA executive who thanked Newsmax CEO Chris Ruddy for the network’s consistent support.
Kelly stressed that Kirk’s independence and resilience allowed him to thrive despite exclusion from a major platform.
“Charlie was ubiquitous in his appearances. He was loving, forgiving, and would say yes to anyone. He was independent — he built his own thing, created his own platform,” she said.
“He rose to power on his own, notwithstanding the absence of help from a lot of these big platforms that did their level best to demonize Charlie and Turning Point.”
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