Fox News host Megyn Kelly claimed that some journalists who supported Donald Trump would pre-arrange difficult questions with the real estate mogul to preserve some appearance of neutrality.
Fox’s Howard Kurtz asked Kelly about the charge, which she laid out in her book “Settle For More,” that hosts on Fox and other networks relied on this arrangement to maintain credibility without putting any actual pressure on Trump’s campaign.
“Are you suggesting they were play-acting?” Kurtz asked.
“Yes. It was acting,” she replied, claiming that this information was “confirmed to me by more than one television executive.”
Kelly, who tangled with Trump repeatedly during the campaign, also wrote in her book that the President-elect routinely offered journalists gifts of free airfare and stays at Trump hotels in exchange for favorable coverage.
Though Kelly declined to name names, one particularly Trump-friendly Fox host apparently felt he was being called out.
In a string of tweets on Sunday, Sean Hannity said he had “no idea” who Kelly was referring to, but that he always wanted “real answers” about Trump’s policy proposals.
Hannity also claimed he “was never offered a thing” from Trump. The “Hannity” star appeared in a pro-Trump campaign video without Fox’s permission and conducted countless softball interviews with him, saying he was allowed to display blatant favoritism towards Trump since he is “not a journalist.”
No idea who @megynkelly is talking about. When I asked ?’s about Justices, The wall, Refugees, Obamacare, economy etc I wanted real answers! https://t.co/AZxax2rpur
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 20, 2016
I would love to know who was “Acting”. https://t.co/AZxax2rpur
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 20, 2016
I would also like to know what people were offered by DT, I was never offered a thing. Never stayed at a DT property played a DT golf course https://t.co/62F0etYnxS
— Sean Hannity (@seanhannity) November 20, 2016
