Megyn Kelly Reveals Behind-the-Scenes Details of Her Interview with Former President Donald Trump

I will tell you, from my perspective, I thought it went very well. I thought he did very well, and he withstood some tough questioning. I did not go easy on him. I didn't, like with DeSantis, the goal was not to emerge with Trump's jugular, as some would like to have seen. I thought it was fair, right? There were like some questions for him, some questions for me. And that's, I think, how it should go. There should be a good flow to any big interview, like with a former president. And I give him a ton of credit. I mean, you tell me, could Joe Biden have done that? Could he have done five minutes of that? Just five minutes, nevermind an hour and 20, or however long Trump and I were together, it was almost an hour and 20. He couldn't, and he wouldn't. And where is the mainstream journalist who will even ask him tough questions? Where are they? President Trump didn't expect me to go easy on him. He knows me, he knows we have a history, as you heard. And yet he came, he gave me more time than he had originally agreed to. Originally, they were saying 45. He kept sitting. He didn't wrap it. He didn't say, get her out of here. Even though I was needling him pretty good on some of those subjects. So I just, like, this is the way it's supposed to work. This is the way it used to work. It used to work like this, where those running for the highest office in the land used to subject themselves to tough questions. And Trump, he could stay underground. He's not, he doesn't need to do those primary debates. He's not wrong about that, much as I'd love to see it. Nevermind moderate it. He doesn't need to. So the fact that he gave the time, because he could, he could pull a Biden. He could go underground. He could be under a rock, but he puts himself out there. And I do think he deserves enormous credit for it. He's, you know, as I say, didn't have to. I just want to say one thing quickly. Can I just compliment my team? Because if you guys had any idea, the amount of research that goes into preparing for an interview like that, you'd, I mean, it's night and day and all the producers on my team, when we got ready for DeSantis there, we started a separate text group called DeSantis Research. And then with Trump, we had a separate one called Trump Research. And everything, everything, hopefully you know this with me before I go out there, it's all been fact-checked. I do my homework. And when Trump says something that's not true, you as the anchor have to decide whether you're going to fact-check him or whether you're going to let this one slide and let the audience decide or let the online fact-checkers go at it. Because, you know, if you fact-check every little thing that you disagree with or that you could fact-check on, the interview would go five hours. You can't do that as an anchor. You're going to bore the people at home and you're going to waste valuable time. Entire subjects won't get covered if you handle it like that. Well, as the anchor, your job is to sit there and sift through it. You know, you're thinking real time, separate the wheat from the chaff. What's important? Do I want to hammer on this or don't I? And it's thanks to my team that I'm able to do that. You know, like I know all the stuff thanks to them. So I love my team. They're so committed to facts. They are not biased at all. All they care about is truth and they do a great job of making the show look good. I'm very grateful to them. I thought it was interesting. Trump is still focused on the debate question from August of 2015. And he, I don't know why, you know, is he still mad about it or does he just want to talk about how well he did in answering it? Because he did do well. He did do well. That answer he gave about Rosie O'Donnell got huge applause and his poll numbers went way up after that debate. So I think he's still a little ticked off that I asked it. And I know a lot of people didn't like it. As you heard in the exchange, I loved it, but onward, as I said to him, onward. One bit of color for you behind the scenes. So here in the studio, I, yes, today I'm sleeveless, but it doesn't matter what I, I could be in a turtleneck and I basically keep it around 76 degrees inside, right? Abby? 78. 78, she says, 78. You know, I don't sweat. I don't, is it a medical condition? I have no idea, but it's very hard for me to like sweat and feel uncomfortable in the heat. I'm always cold. Hemmer and I used to war because he'd be in those heavy wool suits when we co-hosted America's Newsroom and I'd be in some Fox polyester dress with no sleeves and I'd be freezing my ass off. Anyway, so now it's my studio. I can do what I want. It's wonderful. Pretty much everybody around me sweats though. So if I have a guest coming in, I turn it down to like 70. Anyway, the reason I'm telling you this is Trump is way more in the Hemmer camp. You know, he's a man. He's wearing a wool suit and he likes it cold and he's the star, not me, in the interview. So he's doing this. He doesn't have to say yes to this interview. So, and it's his place. So he gets to choose the temperature. I mean, I turned blue almost as soon as I showed up. Does anybody know what Raynaud's is? I have Raynaud's where like you lose the circulation in your fingers, your fingertips. They were white. They were like, white as snow. I had no circulation in my fingertips. And it was to the point where I, my, my, one of my tech guys, Jake, gave me hand warmers, except my dress was kind of small and there was no place to put them. And you're not supposed to put them right on your bare skin. So like I, you know, one day I don't have a pair of Spanx on. So I'm like, I think I might like burn my bottom. I might have hot cross buns if I just stick them under there. So, so I was just holding them, waiting for him to get there. We waited for like, whatever, 15, 20 minutes. And then he came in. My teeth were chattering and all I could think was, I'm going to look like I am shaking like a leaf in this interview. People are going to think I'm nervous, but I'm really just freezing. I'm freezing to death. It felt like astronaut training where they start taking away your core body heat and other essential elements of living to see if you can continue to perform. Anyway, Trump was very gracious. When he saw that I was cold, he asked if I wanted more heat. And I said, no, no, it's all about you. I made it, I made it. But it was just a bit of color of the behind the scenes, things that go on. All the lighting looked good. And Trump, he's still a TV man. He knows exactly how he wants the shot. He knows how he likes the lighting. It's quite helpful, frankly. Like he was like, get rid of that Diet Coke bottle. He didn't want things in the background of the shot. You know, he wanted it to look good and he wants it to rate well and be received well. And I hope that's how you experienced it. Anyway, let me know what you thought. Megan, M-E-G-Y-N, at megankelley.com. I'll tell you who the unsung heroes of COVID are. Of course, the frontline workers. But what about those business owners who hung in there and paid their employees? If you stayed open and paid your people, you could be eligible for up to $26,000 per employee at covidtexrelief.org. $26,000 per employee. This is not a loan. These are government funds that you do not have to pay back. All types of businesses, including nonprofits and churches can be eligible, but you need to apply now because Congress may pull the funds. covidtexrelief.org has helped tens of thousands of businesses just like yours and secured over $500 million. And unlike others, they charge nothing, zero, upfront. They do all the work and share a percentage of the cash they get you. 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