Megyn Kelly used a recent segment to address criticism from some conservatives over her comments about Candace Owens, Israel, and her discussion with Tucker Carlson about the late Charlie Kirk’s views on Gaza. Kelly said her goal was simple: add clarity, not fuel controversy.
She explained that she aired a four-minute clip from an August 6 interview in which Kirk described feeling unfairly attacked by some pro-Israel voices for mild criticisms he’d made. Kelly said she played the tape because it offered Kirk’s views in his own words, recorded a month before he was killed—eliminating guesswork about what he thought. She emphasized she has no special stake in ongoing debates about Kirk’s private conversations, including reported pressure on him to take a more pro-Israel line, and did not endorse any specific claims about that.
Kelly also pushed back on the idea that Israel was connected to Kirk’s death. On her show with The Fifth Column and during a live appearance with Carlson, she said there is “zero evidence” of any Israeli role and that speculation on that point doesn’t belong in the conversation about his murder.
A major part of her rebuttal centered on accusations that she and Kirk trafficked in antisemitic tropes when discussing whether Jeffrey Epstein might have had ties to intelligence agencies. Kelly said she raised that possibility as one of several hypotheses—U.S. or foreign—and objected to a statement from the American Jewish Committee characterizing it as “baseless” and dangerous. She made clear she opposes antisemitism, has frequently criticized campus hostility toward Jewish students, and believes not every critique or question related to Israel should be labeled antisemitic.
Kelly also described receiving public and private pushback. She cited a tweet from Mark Levin criticizing her conversation with Carlson and shared direct messages from Commentary magazine’s Abe Greenwald that she viewed as hostile and unfair, especially while she was grieving Kirk’s death. Her broader concern, she said, is a climate of pressure to sever friendships or deplatform guests—naming Carlson and Glenn Greenwald as examples—that she refuses to bow to. For Kelly, open debate and hearing uncomfortable viewpoints are essential, even when she disagrees.
To underscore that point, Kelly replayed a recent clip of Kirk addressing his friendship with Owens. In it, he acknowledges differences with her—including over Israel—yet rejects “moral blackmail” to end personal relationships over disagreements. Kelly endorsed that approach: keep friends, keep talking, and keep the focus on evidence.
Her bottom line: she aired Kirk’s own words to inform the public, rejects efforts to tie Israel to his death without proof, and believes conflating criticism with bigotry harms both honest discussion and the cause of combating genuine antisemitism.
Source: Megyn Kelly/YouTube, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DSp635VMruE
