Why Is Megyn Kelly Afraid to Take on Candace Owens?
Right-wing media’s old guard is scared of its younger, crazier rivals.
Megyn Kelly’s Strange Silence on Candace Owens
Charlie Kirk’s assassination unleashed a wave of conspiracy theories on the right. One of the most popular holds, with no evidence, that Israel was responsible for his murder.
No one has provided more grist for this conspiracy theory than Candace Owens, the popular right-wing influencer and Kirk friend who has run circles around Turning Point USA and anyone else trying to keep Kirk’s legacy and the story of his death grounded in reality. On Tuesday, for example, Owens dropped another bombshell: She claimed Kirk visited her in a dream to tell her he had been “betrayed.” The identity of his betrayer, she continued, was soon to be revealed, and its revelation would have “international consequences.”
Many Kirk friends and confidants have pushed back hard on Owens, calling much of what she’s saying batshit crazy. But one top conservative media figure has been keeping quiet.
Former Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who was friends with Kirk and has millions of followers of her own online, has so far declined to criticize Owens for making these sorts of comments. It’s been noticed by others in the movement, who note that Kelly built a reputation for toughness in conservative media after taking on the likes of Roger Ailes and Donald Trump himself but now seems unwilling to use her influence on the right to challenge Owens.
In an appearance last week on the Fifth Column podcast, Kelly complained that she was facing “pressure” to denounce Owens’s outlandish claims about Israel’s role in the assassination. And while Kelly wouldn’t say she agreed with Owens, she wanted to make clear that she definitely was not going to criticize her.
“This faction that’s trying to pressure me online feels to me like the [Black Lives Matter] people—‘Raise your first and say it!’” Kelly said, turning directly to the camera to address her critics. “And the answer’s no! Now that you’re making me say it . . . it’s a hard no.”
Why is Kelly, not someone known to dodge a high-profile political fight, shrinking from this one? She claims it’s because, as a matter of principle,