Fox News superstar Megyn Kelly returned Monday night to host “The Kelly File” following a vacation, and Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was waiting in the wings to welcome her back with a series of scathing late-night tweets.
“I liked The Kelly File much better without @megynkelly,” the billionaire businessman tweeted. “Perhaps she could take another eleven day unscheduled vacation!”
Trump reignited his post-debate feud with Kelly by also accusing her of being “off her game,” and suggested she “must have had a terrible vacation” because she was “afraid to confront” her guest, Dr. Cornel West, on the subject of immigration.
Trump followed up his tweets with a couple of retweets from supporters who called Kelly a “bimbo” and her show “a waste of an hour on Fox.”
Kelly’s boss, Fox News CEO Roger Ailes, jumped into the fray on Tuesday with a blistering response to the billionaire’s “verbal assaults” on the prime-time anchor.
“Donald Trump’s surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing. Megyn Kelly represents the very best of American journalism and all of us at Fox News Channel reject the crude and irresponsible attempts to suggest otherwise,” Ailes statement reads.
“I could not be more proud of Megyn for her professionalism and class in the face of all of Mr. Trump’s verbal assaults. Her questioning of Mr. Trump at the debate was tough but fair, and I fully support her as she continues to ask the probing and challenging questions that all presidential candidates may find difficult to answer,” Ailes said.
“Donald Trump rarely apologizes, although in this case, he should. We have never been deterred by politicians or anyone else attacking us for doing our job, much less allowed ourselves to be bullied by anyone and we’re certainly not going to start now. All of our journalists will continue to report in the fair and balanced way that has made Fox News Channel the number one news network in the industry.”
Ailes’ statement was preceded by what appeared to be a series of coordinated tweets and comments in defense of Kelly by several of her colleagues.
Brian Kilmeade took to “Fox & Friends” Tuesday morning to blast Trump – who until recently had a regular call-in gig to discuss current events on the show – and to say the billionaire may be running for president, but that doesn’t give him a right to attack Kelly.
Trump is “totally out of control,” and his Twitter attacks are “totally unwarranted,” Kilmeade said.
Other Fox News hosts, reporters and commentators sent out similarly scathing rebukes of Trump.
Jedediah Bila, who appears on the noon “Outnumbered” show on Fox, said Trump’s remarks about Kelly were “childish and in poor taste,” CNN Money found.
Bret Baier, Fox anchor and presidential debate moderator alongside Kelly, said Trump has “made his feelings clear. But THIS needs to stop,” in a tweet.
Bill Hemmer, morning news anchor, referred to the “bimbo” retweet and wrote on his own Twitter account: “Easy, Mr. Trump.”
Geraldo Rivera, frequent Fox contributor, wrote: “Wish pal @realDonaldTrump would cool feud with @megynkelly. Point is made boss. Now world needs you to use bully pulpit to address big issues.”
Dana Perino, co-host of “The Five,” wrote: “The intelligence, class & grace of Megyn Kelly shined last night after her week’s vacation with her family.”
Sean Hannity, who has one of the first interviews with Trump on Fox after the debate and initial Kelly flare-up, also tweeted his support of Kelly, though he called Trump a “friend.”
“My friend @realDonaldTrump has captured the imagination of many. Focus on Hillary, Putin, border, jobs, Iran China & leave @megynkelly alone,” he wrote.
Trump has had a beef with Kelly since the first Republican presidential debate, when Kelly asked Trump about his past remarks about women. Soon after the debate, Trump blasted Kelly, at one point telling CNN’s Don Lemon that “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever.” Trump was even close to boycotting the network, a source told Politico.
But a few days after the debate, a truce seemed to have been met between Fox News and Trump.
“Donald Trump and I spoke today,” Ailes said in a statement released by the network the Monday night following the debate. “We discussed our concerns, and I again expressed my confidence in Megyn Kelly. She is a brilliant journalist and I support her 100 percent. I assured him that we will continue to cover this campaign with fairness & balance. We had a blunt but cordial conversation and the air has been cleared.”
Trump made up too, in a tweet: “Roger Ailes just called. He is a great guy & assures me that ‘Trump’ will be treated fairly on @FoxNews,” he wrote. “His word is always good!”
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