Megyn Kelly says ‘TV gold’ Donald Trump would be welcome to return to the Republican debate stage to shake up the dynamic among the GOP 2024 candidates after a series of ‘frustrating’ previous debates.
Kelly is co-moderating the fourth Republican primary debate with NewsNation’s Elizabeth Vargas and Washington Free Beacon Editor-in-Chief Eliana Johnson in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, on Wednesday.
She told DailyMail.com in an exclusive interview that although she hasn’t reached out to Trump directly urging his participation, he knows that she would ‘love’ to have him there.
‘Trump is TV gold, not just ratings gold – yes, that’s a given. He is a performer. He’s a natural born performer. And there’s a reason people can’t take their eyes off of him when he enters a room, when he gets in front of a lens…so of course I would love to be part of any television program that has him on the opposite end,’ she explained.
Trump has decided to sit out all of the GOP primary debates because he’s so far ahead in the polls. But last month, the U.S. Secret Service conducted a security ‘sweep’ of the Alabama site of the next presidential debate, teasing a possible Trump return to the action.
In 2016, then-Fox News host Kelly famously clashed with Trump during the televised match when he was asked about his previous misogynistic comments.
Nearly eight years later, there is a ‘charged but respectful but on the edge dynamic’ between herself and Trump that works well for television and so Kelly ‘hopes’ Trump shows up in Alabama ‘for the fun of it.’
In 2016, then-Fox News host Kelly famously clashed with Trump during the televised match when he was asked about his previous misogynistic comments
Chris Wallace, Megyn Kelly and Bret Baier at the start of the 2016 debate held by Fox News
‘It would be a gift to the audience and to the voters who are going to be [voting] six weeks later in Iowa. But I wouldn’t put money on it,’ she told DailyMail.com.
The stage will be the smallest in the 2024 primary race yet with qualifiers including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy.
The trio of female moderators are planning to set their debate apart from the previous three by letting the candidates hash it out – without interruptions.
Kelly said she plans to have the candidates ‘actually debate’ and not make the night just a ‘nationally televised interview.’
She said at the previous debate hosted by NBC’s Lester Holt and Kristen Welker in Miami, ‘whenever debate would unfold on the stage, the moderators would shut it down. Far from fostering it, they seemed afraid of it.’
‘I don’t care what the moderators think is important. I care what the candidates think is important,’ Kelly added.
Wednesday’s moderators will take a different approach after the ‘incredibly frustrating’ last debate.
‘If we do our jobs right, and the way we plan, you’re going to be hearing a lot more from them than you are from us.’
In Miami, Ramaswamy brought Haley’s daughter into the conversation, noting that she was a user of TikTok during a heated debate on which candidates do and do not want to ban the Chinese social media app.
‘Leave my daughter out of your voice,’ Haley said in response. ‘You’re just scum.’
Kelly said Holt and Welker unfortunately ‘snuffed out’ that intense moment.
‘They didn’t give him the chance to respond. And they pretend it didn’t happen. Who who in the history of debate moderation, would ignore a moment like that?’ she questioned.
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Former President Donald Trump has amassed a polling lead of nearly 50 percentage points while skipping the debates he used to climb to the top of the pack in 2016
Co-moderator Elizabeth Vargas of NewsNation told DailyMail.com her goal is to deliver a debate where viewers don’t want to turn off the television – like she says she wanted to do during extended periods of cross-talk in the second debate.
‘We intend to moderate this debate with a firm and steady hand,’ Vargas said in an exclusive look at preparation for the fourth event. ‘People will not be allowed to talk over each other.’
Kelly also said that Vargas, Johnson and herself plan to incorporate topics previously untouched in previous debates.
It’s been a ‘goldmine for us,’ she says.
As to whether Kelly would ever consider a return to TV, she told DailyMail.com ‘no.’
‘I’ve had multiple offers to go back to TV and I’ve rejected them all. I really enjoy what I’m doing now. I’m my own boss. I have no one exercising editorial control over me. And frankly, there would be no one who could exercise editorial control over me in a manner that I would be comfortable with.’
She said she feels freed by having ‘no corporate loyalties’ and she can control the subjects of her interviews.