Here’s a spoiler about Megyn Kelly’s upcoming interview with presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump:
She does not make him cry.
Viewers might expect tears to flow because cable news star Kelly’s first prime-time special, Megyn Kelly Presents, on Fox’s broadcast network (8 p.m. Tuesday) is produced by Bill Geddie. For years, Geddie oversaw Barbara Walters’ high-rated in-depth interviews with celebrities who often reached for tissue by the end of the conversation.
“I’m glad I didn’t cry,” Kelly said with a laugh at her office at Fox News headquarters in Manhattan.
But Kelly’s role in Trump’s historic rise to become the Republicans’ choice for the 2016 White House gives their one-on-one meeting plenty of built-in tension.
At the first Republican primary debate that aired Aug. 6 on the Fox News Channel, Kelly confronted Trump over public statements he’s made about women.
While the real estate mogul kept his cool during the event, which was watched by 24 million people, he scorched Kelly with insults afterward on social media and, in a CNN interview, suggested that her menstrual cycle was the reason for her “mean” questions.
Trump’s remarks would have likely put an end to a conventional political candidate. But the former reality-TV star powered through the primary season like a Survivor contestant with immunity from the tribal council.
On her special, Kelly is seen getting her first chance to ask the presumed nominee about his behavior, which went on for months. The focus is not on her, she said, but on whether he has the temperament appropriate for someone who occupies the Oval Office.
“He answered every question,” she said. “There were some tense moments. There were some uncomfortable moments.”
But Kelly is also well aware that her timing was right for the interview, which she personally requested from Trump in mid-April. While Trump has the nomination sewn up, his poll numbers have been weak among female voters. Agreeing to an opportunity to publicly display respect toward Kelly, no matter how tough she is on him, can’t hurt with that constituency.
“You can say whatever you want about Trump, but he’s not dumb,” she said. “He realized he had a lot riding on this and something to gain.”
Kelly, a 45-year-old upstate New York native, has already won accolades and admiration for remaining cool and never responding to Trump’s nasty fire. She’s done glamorous magazine shoots and was interviewed by Charlie Rose on the august weekend news program CBS Sunday Morning.
But her journey to becoming the hottest star on cable news has been a shock to her system.
A former trial attorney who went into broadcast journalism 13 years ago partly because she wanted more fun in her work life, she admits to being taken aback at the harsh tone of the presidential campaign season. She said she never expected to become a part of the Trump saga that cable news programs like hers cover each night.
“I don’t really like acrimony,” she said. “Some people like it. I think Trump likes it. I know people see me as this tough questioner. People have said I am fearless. I am a much softer person than that. Don’t get me wrong. I am a strong woman. I am much more about my children and my husband, the love in my life and my friendships and my recognition that we’re only here for a short time. Every moment in that vitriolic sewer is bad for the soul.”
The experience has caused Kelly to reflect about the future of her career. Her contract with Fox News is up in July 2017, and she has said recently that she’s undecided about renewing. In the last year she has become a client of Creative Artists Agency, which is not where TV news talent goes to stay put.
But Kelly points out that she appreciates the editorial control — as well as the challenges — that she has on her platform at Fox News Channel, where she averages 2.5 million viewers a night. She has the second-largest audience in cable news, behind her lead-in, The O’Reilly Factor.
Kelly and Fox News executives are playing down the significance of the prime-time special and whether it can lead to a larger role on the broadcast network. Nevertheless, Kelly has been on a talk-show blitz to promote the event.
“If it works out and they want more, that would be fun,” she said. “If the special is one-and-done, I can live with that too. It’s not like I’m getting extra money.”