Megyn Kelly really doesn't want to talk about Trump on her new show

(Image credit: Getty Images)

published 22 September 2017

Megyn Kelly, who rocketed to international fame as President Trump's least-favorite anchor at Fox News, is not actually not much of a political junkie, and when her new NBC morning show, Megyn Kelly Live, starts on Monday, "I don't want to talk about Trump at all," she told The Associated Press. She elaborated:

In fact, the bar is very high for Trump coverage (on Megyn Kelly Live). If you want Trump, you can watch virtually every channel in the country and get Trump nonstop. I think people are looking for a break from that. Not just Trump, it's inside the Beltway. I don't want to talk about Mitch McConnell either, or Chuck Schumer or Nancy Pelosi. [Megyn Kelly to AP]

Kelly said she wants her new show to be somewhere between the fun earlier hours of NBC's popular Today show and something more substantive, covering things like bullying, mental health, job interview tips, how to protect yourself from cybersecurity breaches, and moving past divorce. Kelly will go up against Live! with Kelly Ripa and Ryan Seacrest, and NBC executives are reportedly concerned about her ratings — following the middling debut season of her Sunday night newsmagazine, her positive "Q" popularity score among women fell to 4 from 21 two years ago, according to Marketing Evaluations Inc., versus a 15 average for TV hosts. Kelly says she's not paying attention to the noise, and her viewers are "going to watch the show and either they're going to feel a connection to me or they won't. And that will be on me." You can read more of her interview at AP.

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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.

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