Megyn Kelly rips critics of her interview with Donald Trump
During her show Wednesday, Kelly said "these critics failed to disclose their own bias against Trump, against Fox News, against the GOP."
The Fox News host singled out the Washington Post's Erik Wemple and the New Yorker's Amy Davidson for harboring alleged biases primarily against Trump that supposedly clouded their critical judgment.
"It is possible that some of these folks don't like Trump or Republicans and wanted to see me take him out," Kelly said.
Many critics asserted that Kelly wasted an opportunity to grill the presumptive Republican presidential nominee about his inflammatory rhetoric toward women, particularly considering Trump's controversial past statements about Kelly herself.
"What was missing from this interview was Kelly getting personal about what Trump had done to her," Wemple wrote.
"Another Megyn Kelly, at another time, might have pushed him on his actual policies toward women or in other areas. This one just wanted to know if, 'so close to the Oval Office,' Trump would change his 'tone' - and, again, if he grasped how very many people were behind him," Davidson wrote.
Kelly brushed off the criticisms, claiming the personality-focused format was a "different offering" than the hard-hitting interviews Kelly features on her nightly Fox News show.
During Wednesday's show, Kelly trotted out Fox News media pundit Howie Kurtz, who praised Kelly for getting Trump to express "some regret" and for having a "cordial conversation with Trump."
"At times got him to share some personal feelings, which he's very loathe to do," Kurtz said. "Some people may not have liked the personality-based, soft-focus interview."
At least one person appeared to agree with Kelly that the interview was a success: Trump himself.
During Tuesday's broadcast, Trump told Kelly that he liked their relationship now. And he congratulated Kelly in a tweet after the interview concluded.