Megyn Kelly Had A Totally Normal Reaction To JD Vance Getting Fact-Checked

By Andrew Sanford | Politics | October 2, 2024 |

By Andrew Sanford | Politics | October 2, 2024 |

Yesterday marked the first day of October. Many, like me, decided to indulge in Spooky Season in September. My schedule revolves around my kids so I don’t get to watch as many scary movies as I used to. To ensure I still get my fill, I start early. I’m adding this context to explain why I spent last night watching the Vice Presidential Debate instead of taking in a decapitation or two.

The debate was mostly unremarkable. Walz was passionate yet unpolished (which, I believe, worked in his favor) while Vance was slick and pulling numbers out of thin air. At the end of the day, it gave Vance a chance to show that Trump has someone on his side who isn’t as unhinged as he is. He is also not nearly as charismatic, but he doesn’t have to be. He cleared the very low bar of not looking crazy. That doesn’t mean there weren’t any cracks.

Vance was called out for lying early on in the debate. The potential VP attempted to claim that migrants were invading Springfield, Ohio. It’s dangerous, mouth-foaming racism the Trump/Vance tickets have leaned into as of late. Debate moderator Margaret Brennan corrected Vance, explaining, “Just to clarify for our viewers, Springfield, Ohio, does have a large number of Haitian migrants who have legal status.”

Brennan is correct and that is important to point out. It pokes holes in one of the campaign’s current rallying cries and raises more questions about their plans for “mass deportations.” Vance did not take it well, immediately whining, “The rules were that you guys weren’t going to fact-check, and since you’re fact-checking me, I think it’s important to say what’s actually going on.” He then kept talking, as did Walz, and both men’s mics were turned off to establish order.

It was fairly mundane. Many tried to paint it as Vance “exploding” or losing his cool, but he actually remained calm despite being called out for his lies. Megyn Kelly had enough outrage for both of them. “F you CBS — how DARE YOU,” Kelly exclaimed on Twitter. She continued melting down, saying, “Tried to face check. JD put you in your place. You WONT HIM FIGHT YOU AND YOU WONT LET THEM DEBATE.”

Grammatical errors aside, this is some straight nonsense. Kelly was trying to make a mountain out of a molehill. CBS never said it wouldn’t fact-check participants; they just encouraged the men to fact-check each other (so basically, no fact-checking). Regardless, they were ready to call out Vance’s current and biggest lie, as they should. However, the GOP loves presenting themselves as victims, so Kelly took the opportunity to lament his treatment on his behalf.

Again, to be fair, left-wing pundits were trying to make a lot out of the moment as well. Vance should be called out on his lies and this one was simple. But it wasn’t some explosive fight, and people who already believe migrants are eating people’s pets in Springfield, Ohio, likely didn’t have their minds changed. Vance also didn’t bounce back like some prize fighter. It was a relatively innocuous moment, but Megyn Kelly reacted as if she saw an aforementioned decapitation.