Fox News host Megyn Kelly defended herself from criticism of her performance at the Republican presidential debate, insisting that she was not trying to attack the candidates personally.
“We were trying to drill down to their most vulnerable areas and then give them a chance to explain them. And also give the audience a chance to see how they would handle that,” Kelly said of her strategy in an interview with Fox News’ “Mediabuzz” taped on Friday night before Donald Trump suggested that she had “blood coming out of her wherever.”
“If you can’t get past me, how are you going to handle Vladimir Putin?” she asked.
Numerous conservatives criticized Kelly, including Fox News’ Todd Starnes, arguing that she purposefully asked “gotcha” questions. Kelly said that while some may feel strongly about candidates, that’s not her goal.
“My job is not to feel passionately about these candidates. My job is to go out there and ask probing questions that are hopefully smart and help the people learn something about this person, and in this context, his weaknesses,” she said. “When I’m ticking off both sides, I’m in my sweet spot.”
Kurtz asked Kelly about a few specific questions she asked, including the question she posed to Trump about his treatment of women.
“It wasn’t an attack. It was a fair question,” she said.
She also defended questions regarding abortion she asked to Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker (R) and Sen. Marco Rubio (R-FL).
“It wasn’t personal at all. I hit him from the left on abortion and I hit Marco Rubio from the right on abortion,” she said about her question to Walker about whether he believes that abortion should be banned even in cases where it would save the life of the mother.
