In the latest issue of Variety (on shelves Tuesday), host of Fox News' Megyn Kelly spoke in detail about her turbulent relationship with inflammatory GOP frontrunner Donald Trump.
Asked if she thinks her gender shapes Trump's criticism of her, Kelly said, "the language is very different when he fights with women."
"It has not been enjoyable. I wish it hadn’t happened," Kelly said of Trump's critical fixation on her. "I don’t like being the story. I think it raises real First Amendment issues." She then invoked Michelle Fields, another female reporter who got in the path of the Trump train.
However, unlike Fields, who resigned from Breitbart News after the publication refused to denounce Trump's campaign, Kelly said she feels supported by Fox News.
"Fox News has been in a tough position," she explained. "They care about me and they are not afraid of a fight, but we're in unchartered territory."
"I think it’s been hard on [Fox News CEO Roger Ailes], too," she continued. "He can see what happens in my life when Trump starts off. He really wants him to stop, but on the other hand, he’s not going to run a news channel that doesn’t provide access to the Republican frontrunner for president."
Kelly declined to characterize as sexist Trump's purported claim to "at least half her salary" because, he argued, his campaign is such a ratings boon.
"I’ll leave that to someone else to label," she said, adding, "I earn every dime of my salary. I won’t be giving it to anyone other than my three children."
"Trump, he's a master strategist at distracting you," Kelly said, describing Trump's penchant for media manipulation. "If he says something for which he’s gotten into real trouble, he’ll say something else and the media is quick to run to the next shiny thing."
Read the full interview at Variety.com.
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