Megyn Kelly accused President Donald Trump of damaging the Republican Party through greed and a circle of “grifters” following the party’s devastating midterm losses.
Kelly, a registered Independent who describes herself as “more right-leaning,” sharply criticized Trump on Wednesday after Democrats made history by winning both the House and the Senate overnight.
The political commentator offered an unvarnished 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 thing 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.”
“You surrounded yourself with a field of grifters who wanted to make money from the presidency instead of serving as actual public servants in a humble role that was never intended to make someone a millionaire or billionaire.
“It’s incredibly disheartening, and it’s such a missed opportunity. It’s such a missed opportunity for this president, who had the world at his feet and in his hands, and 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 a circle of “grifters” after the midterm election rout
“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 blistering criticism of Trump, Kelly said the wider MAGA movement still had a path forward.
“The Republicans have an opportunity here. I believe this is finally the chance for the Republican Party to preserve MAGA’s core ideals, which are good and important. Trump deserves credit for bringing those issues before Americans who had refused to listen, including a political class that ignored the struggles of working-class people. But they need to keep the good, discard the bad and develop a new way forward.
“They are going to have to find a new charismatic, honest and ethical leader of their own. You can’t ride Trump’s coattails anymore. They no longer exist. He cannot save you.”
Kelly opened her latest episode by discussing Vice President JD Vance’s public claim that the Iran war, a conflict Trump spearheaded, contributed to the majority of Americans voting 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 placed responsibility for the election results on Trump.
Vance also outlined other reasons he believed the party had lost 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 wrote.
Vance delivered a forceful message to supporters of the Iran war, insisting they accept responsibility for pushing the United States into military action in the Middle East.
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Kelly began her latest episode by pointing to Vice President JD Vance’s claim that the Iran war, spearheaded by Trump, helped drive voters toward the Democrats
Shortly after Vance’s post, the president’s son, Donald Trump Jr., also joined the criticism of his father
“If you want to argue that it was worth losing the Senate for the next six years, then make that case,” he wrote.
“Argue that it was a worthwhile price to pay. Whether people agree or disagree, at least that would be honest.”
Vance posted his reaction to the election only moments before arriving at the White House in his motorcade for private meetings.
The president remained inside the White House for private policy meetings, with no public events scheduled overnight 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., joined the criticism directed at his father.
Trump Jr. responded to Vance’s post by writing, “every word of this is…” and following it with three hundred-point emojis.
Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, another prominent Trump ally, also sharply condemned 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 Texas “the crown jewel of Republican politics.”
James Talarico won election to the state’s Senate, 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 staunch Trump ally, also delivered a blistering assessment of the president after election day
“Let’s be clear: this is going to hurt not only for the next two years, but potentially for the next decade or longer,” DeSantis said at a press conference in Tallahassee on Wednesday.
“If the Republican Party does not have Texas as an anchor, then we will not be nationally viable going forward.”
DeSantis had criticized the administration even before the results were announced. In a podcast interview, he warned that Republicans who refused to acknowledge the Iran war had driven up gas prices were “gaslighting” voters.
“Gas is higher. It hurts working-class people, and it’s higher because of this conflict. That’s simply a fact. If you can’t admit that to voters, then you’re gaslighting them, and they are not going to listen to you about other issues,” DeSantis told Stephen A. Smith.
He called the war a “big drag” on the Republican Party and said it might not have become an election issue had it ended as quickly as the Venezuela operation.
