Megyn Kelly, Karl Rove try to figure out what Donald Trump's team is doing with Mitt Romney


Megyn Kelly said on Tuesday's Kelly File that she just doesn't know what to make of President-elect Donald Trump's advisers squabbling over Mitt Romney, who is meeting for a second time with Trump on Tuesday, presumably over the possibility that Trump will tap him for secretary of state. Did Kellyanne Conway "go rogue" by trying to disqualify Romney on Sunday talk shows, Kelly asked GOP strategist Karl Rove, or did she go after him with Trump's knowledge and at least tacit consent, as The Associated Press reports?
"I don't know which is true, I just think it's unseemly and unconstructive," Rove said. "It makes Donald Trump, whatever the intention, look weak, it makes him look like he's waffling, it makes him look like he is being pressured, and that's not what a president or a president-elect ought to look like." Rove also noted that such infighting and second-guessing is "not conducive to creating the right kind of atmosphere inside the White House," where people can offer their honest opinions without fear of public humiliation.
"The speculation is that perhaps Donald Trump is looking to embarrass Mitt Romney, who was a vicious critic of Trump's during the campaign," Kelly said, "that this is, you know, playing out like an episode of The Apprentice, where he decides who goes forward and who doesn't in the most dramatic fashion." Rove said that Trump using Conway to embarrass Romney was "too Machiavellian" for Trump. "The other option of course is that she's gone rogue, in which case she's not serving her principal well," he said. "He needs to look strong. The world is watching now, they're taking the measure of the man, and this is not something that's going to make him look stronger." Kelly was unconvinced: "That doesn't sound like Kellyanne Conway to go rogue. We'll see." You can watch the exchange below. Peter Weber
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
June 28 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Saturday's political cartoons include stupid wars, a critical media, and mask standards
-
Thai fish pie with crispy turmeric potatoes recipe
The Week Recommends Tasty twist on the Lancashire hot pot is given a golden glow
-
Palestine Action: protesters or terrorists?
Talking Point Damaging RAF equipment at Brize Norton blurs line between activism and sabotage, but proscription is a drastic step
-
Canadian man dies in ICE custody
Speed Read A Canadian citizen with permanent US residency died at a federal detention center in Miami
-
GOP races to revise megabill after Senate rulings
Speed Read A Senate parliamentarian ruled that several changes to Medicaid included in Trump's "One Big Beautiful Bill" were not permissible
-
Supreme Court lets states ax Planned Parenthood funds
Speed Read The court ruled that Planned Parenthood cannot sue South Carolina over the state's effort to deny it funding
-
Trump plans Iran talks, insists nuke threat gone
Speed Read 'The war is done' and 'we destroyed the nuclear,' said President Trump
-
Trump embraces NATO after budget vow, charm offensive
Speed Read The president reversed course on his longstanding skepticism of the trans-Atlantic military alliance
-
Trump judge pick told DOJ to defy courts, lawyer says
Speed Read Emil Bove, a top Justice Department official nominated by Trump for a lifetime seat, stands accused of encouraging government lawyers to mislead the courts and defy judicial orders
-
Mamdani upsets Cuomo in NYC mayoral primary
Speed Read Democratic socialist Zohran Mamdani beat out Andrew Cuomo in New York City's Democratic mayoral primary
-
Supreme Court clears third-country deportations
Speed Read The court allowed Trump to temporarily resume deporting migrants to countries they aren't from