Megyn Kelly accused President Donald Trump of damaging the Republican Party through greed and an inner circle of “grifters” following the GOP’s devastating midterm losses.
Kelly, a registered Independent who describes herself as “more right-leaning,” criticized Trump on Wednesday after Democrats made history overnight by capturing both the House and the Senate.
The political commentator offered an unsparing assessment of Trump, who has been described as a lame duck after the sweeping Democratic victory.
“No one had any interest or appetite in anything related to Donald Trump. It was a harbinger of things to come,” Kelly told her viewers.
“Then they showed up and voted last night, and said the same to him: ‘We’re no longer interested in the Trump show. We’re over the antics, the grift, the making money off the backs of the American people who just wanted you to help them,’” Kelly said.
She went on to describe Trump’s presidency as a “missed opportunity.”
“To surround yourself with a field of grifters who want to make money off of the presidency as opposed to serving, being actual public servants in a humble role that was never meant to make someone a millionaire or billionaire.”
“It’s incredibly disheartening, and it’s such a missed opportunity. It’s such a missed opportunity by this president, who had the world at his feet, in his hands, who had so many of us believing in him,” Kelly continued.
Megyn Kelly accused President Donald Trump of harming the Republican Party through greed and an inner circle of “grifters” after the midterm losses
“No one had any interest or appetite in anything related to Donald Trump. It was a harbinger of things to come,” Kelly told viewers about the president, pictured on Wednesday
Despite her fierce criticism of Trump, Kelly also offered advice to the broader MAGA movement.
“But the Republicans have an opportunity here. I do believe that this is finally the chance for the Republican Party not to abandon MAGA’s core ideals, which are good and important, and which Trump should be credited with bringing before an American public that had refused to listen to him and a political class that refused to listen to working-class people who were suffering. But they need to take the good, discard the bad and find a new way forward.”
“And they’re going to have to find their own new, charismatic, honest and ethical leader. You can’t ride Trump’s coattails anymore. They are nonexistent. He cannot save you.”
Kelly opened her latest episode by discussing Vice President JD Vance’s public claim that the Iran war, a conflict spearheaded by Trump, helped explain why a majority of Americans voted for Democrats.
“You don’t have to take my word for it. Take the word of his own vice president,” Kelly said before reading Vance’s lengthy post on X, which attributed the election results to Trump.
Vance also outlined other reasons for the party’s defeat while urging Republican voters to give the MAGA movement another chance in the future.
“The reason we lost is the war. The president himself said so last night,” he said.
Vance delivered a pointed message to those who supported the Iran war, insisting they accept responsibility for urging the United States to intervene in the Middle East.
Kelly opened her latest episode by citing Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the Iran war, a conflict led by Trump, contributed to the Democratic vote
Soon after Vance’s post appeared, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr, also joined the criticism of his father
“If you’d like to argue that it was worth it, that losing the Senate for the next six years was worth it, then do so,” he said.
“Argue that it was a worthwhile cost to pay. Agree or disagree, that’s at least honest.”
Vance posted his election reaction shortly before arriving at the White House in his motorcade for private meetings.
The president withdrew to the White House for private policy meetings, with no public events scheduled overnight on Wednesday. By early afternoon, however, he summoned reporters to the ballroom.
Not long after Vance published his message, the president’s eldest son, Donald Trump Jr, added his own criticism of his father.
Trump Jr responded to Vance’s post by writing, “every word of this is…” followed by three hundred-point emojis.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another prominent Trump ally, also launched a blistering attack on the president after Election Day.
DeSantis described the midterm results as “close to an extinction-level event for Republicans in many parts of the country.” He highlighted Democratic victories in the Texas governor’s and Senate races, calling the state “the crown jewel of Republican politics.”
James Talarico won the state’s Senate race, becoming the first Democrat to do so since 1988. Gina Hinojosa was also elected governor of the Lone Star State and will replace Greg Abbott beginning next year.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another prominent Trump ally, also delivered a blistering assessment of the president after Election Day
“Let’s just be clear: that is going to hurt. Not just for the next two years, but in a way that could reverberate for the next decade or more,” he said at a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
“And if the Republican Party doesn’t have Texas as an anchor, then we are not going to be viable nationally going forward.”
DeSantis had criticized the administration before the results were announced, warning during a podcast interview that Republicans who refused to acknowledge the Iran war had pushed gas prices higher were “gaslighting” voters.
“Gas is higher. It hurts working-class people, and it’s higher because of this conflict. That’s just a fact. If you can’t admit that to voters, then you’re gaslighting them, and they’re not going to listen to you on other things,” DeSantis told Stephen A. Smith.
He called the war a “big drag” on the Republican Party and said it might not have become an issue had it ended as quickly as the Venezuela operation.