Megyn Kelly on Courage After Charlie Kirk's Assassination and Standing Up for Forgotten Boys and Men

[00:00] It was a heavy realization when it

[00:01] dawned on me that I was booked the next

[00:04] week or two weeks later to be on campus

[00:07] with Charlie as part of his college tour

[00:10] at Virginia Tech. And he was booked a

[00:12] couple of weeks after that to come with

[00:14] me on my tour.

[00:16] >> And it was like I I I remember saying to

[00:19] the team, "We have to pull the promos."

[00:21] Like he's in them. We, you know, we have

[00:24] to pull the promos because Charlie's

[00:26] dead. It's just you can't believe it. I

[00:28] still can't believe it. Um, and then

[00:31] came the question of safety. Like, is it

[00:34] safe for me to go on Charlie's campus

[00:37] tour, which is the venue in which he was

[00:39] killed? You know, can it be made safe?

[00:42] And should we continue with our tour,

[00:44] which had been announced 2 days before

[00:46] Charlie's assassination? You know, it

[00:48] just hit the presses and we were just

[00:50] starting ticket sales. And look, we did

[00:54] talk about it seriously. Obviously, my

[00:55] husband had some strong thoughts on it,

[00:57] but in the end, Miranda, it was like

[01:00] there is zero part of me that could not

[01:03] do it. Like there there is just no part

[01:06] of me that could ever have said no. I

[01:08] just that thing is not in me. It was

[01:12] just very clear to me, I'm doing it. So,

[01:14] the only real question is how do we make

[01:15] it safe? And not just safe for me, but

[01:17] safe for everybody. You know, I I want

[01:19] the Virginia Tech kids to be safe when

[01:21] we go there. And I want the people who

[01:22] come to see me and my guests to be

[01:25] absolutely safe and to not even have it

[01:27] be a a thought. And really what that

[01:29] required was money to, you know, hire

[01:32] the best security and make sure

[01:34] everything is pristine on our security

[01:36] procedures, which we've done. And I'm

[01:39] completely satisfied that we will be

[01:41] very very safe on my tour. And then on

[01:44] Charlie's tour at Virginia Tech, it was

[01:46] a different thing cuz that was my first

[01:47] time getting up in front of an audience

[01:48] and Charlie had just been killed. And

[01:50] this was like I was supposed to be there

[01:51] with him. And it like that.

[01:53] >> I'm not going to lie, the first couple

[01:54] of minutes that I was standing there, it

[01:56] was it was an odd feeling. You know, you

[01:58] I felt exposed

[02:00] >> in a way I don't normally feel exposed

[02:03] >> in public speaking events, but it was

[02:05] just a couple of seconds. And God bless

[02:07] Glenn Ynan, the great great outgoing

[02:10] governor of Virginia, because he was

[02:11] there, too. He was he started and he was

[02:14] great. He had he's got an in-depth

[02:16] knowledge of the Christian faith that I

[02:18] wish I had that Charlie had. and he kind

[02:20] of set a great tone in the room. And

[02:21] then this is what a sweetheart he is. I

[02:23] haven't told anybody the story, but he

[02:25] came with a bunch of security because

[02:26] he's the governor. And he had the guys

[02:28] like the shitkicking guys and like the I

[02:31] don't know if you can swear on this

[02:32] podcast, forgive me, but like with like

[02:33] the the camo and the helmets and like

[02:35] the big serious ammo across their

[02:38] bodies. And excellent

[02:40] >> Glenn, Governor Yncan left before I left

[02:44] because, you know, I was there much

[02:46] longer than he was with the Q&A and he

[02:48] left all those guys behind saying, "You

[02:50] stay here and you take care of Megan,"

[02:52] which he totally didn't have to do. But

[02:54] what a class act. Anyway, my point is

[02:56] simply, it can be made safe. And while

[02:58] it wasn't without risk, I'm very glad I

[03:01] did it. And there is like so far what

[03:02] we're seeing in the ticket sales for my

[03:04] event, you can get your tickets at megan

[03:05] kelly.com.

[03:06] >> Um is that people are rushing to buy the

[03:08] tickets like we've already sold out at

[03:10] multiple venues. So I feel like if

[03:12] anything it's had an effect on the

[03:15] audience of like wanting to give the

[03:17] middle finger like they want to be part

[03:18] of the hell no. An assassin's bullet is

[03:23] not going to silence any of us from

[03:25] saying or standing up for all these same

[03:28] principles that drove Charlie, that

[03:29] drive me, that drive you, that motivate

[03:31] all of us to say the things. Courage is

[03:34] contagious, and you've shown courage.

[03:37] Where does that come from, Megan? We

[03:39] haven't got a lot of time and I I would

[03:41] have liked to have given you more time

[03:43] but I know that in your childhood you

[03:45] suffered a tragedy uh when you were 15

[03:48] when your father died suddenly your

[03:50] beloved father how did that impact you

[03:54] and did that give you sort of resilience

[03:57] >> that's an interesting question I don't

[04:00] think it it gave me resilience exactly

[04:02] maybe it helped but the thing that that

[04:04] gave me more than any other thing after

[04:07] grief you know was

[04:09] >> um it made me make better decisions in

[04:12] my life. You know, we all know no

[04:14] tomorrow is promised as a saying, but

[04:17] you know it at a gut level when you have

[04:19] loss, like profound loss at a young age.

[04:22] And so, it's the reason I got out of my

[04:26] first marriage early and before we had

[04:29] children. It's the reason I left the law

[04:32] when I was about to make partner at a

[04:34] big white shoe firm because I wasn't

[04:37] happy. It's like it just it's driven me

[04:39] to do so many things that I otherwise

[04:42] wouldn't have done. It's a reason I took

[04:43] a job in journalism where I you know the

[04:47] first job I I made $17,000 a year even

[04:50] though I'd been making money as a

[04:51] lawyer. Like all these things because

[04:53] you just realize

[04:55] you have to make good choices and you

[04:57] really you it could all end tomorrow.

[04:58] You know, look at poor Charlie. I mean,

[05:00] he died doing exactly what he wanted to

[05:02] be doing. You know, he he had so many

[05:04] years that he was owed in my view ahead

[05:07] of him, but he didn't waste one that he

[05:10] had been here. So few of us can say

[05:12] that.

[05:13] >> So, I would say that about my dad. And

[05:14] then, you know, resilience that just

[05:16] comes from continuous risk takingaking.

[05:19] You should always take risks even if

[05:20] you're not a courageous person because

[05:22] the more risks you take, they either pan

[05:25] out and then you feel like, "Oh, that

[05:26] wasn't so bad." or they don't pan out.

[05:29] And then you literally only have to do

[05:30] one thing. Keep going. It's not even

[05:33] that hard. Just keep going. That's it.

[05:34] You don't have to keep going with

[05:36] courage. Keep going with a sense of

[05:37] humor. Keep going happily. Just keep

[05:40] going is the only thing you have to do

[05:41] when you fail.

[05:43] >> And then time passes and you realize

[05:45] that wasn't so bad either. Actually,

[05:47] I've learned a lot about myself. I'm

[05:48] still standing. I now feel I have some

[05:51] impunity against these attacks. Like I'm

[05:52] less vulnerable to these cretins who try

[05:55] to hurt me. I have a better like

[05:57] perspective on my life and my place in

[05:59] it, my world. So that's it. Just

[06:02] risk-taking and then the resolve to do

[06:05] that one thing, keep going. And your

[06:08] children, you have three children, um

[06:10] still quite young, um two boys and a

[06:12] girl. And did having boys, I know

[06:16] because I had this um epiphany when I

[06:19] had boys, did that make you sort of

[06:22] become less feminist in a way and more

[06:26] understanding of how men and especially

[06:29] boys uh were being crushed by the

[06:32] dominant culture.

[06:34] >> Definitely. And I think I've said this

[06:36] before, but I think that um it's the way

[06:39] that like

[06:41] in the same way interracial marriages

[06:44] that produce mixed race children can be

[06:47] a real solution to some of the race

[06:50] nonsense that we have in our country

[06:51] right now. You know, like somebody like

[06:53] Sage Steel who's got a white mom and a

[06:55] black dad. She's she's so sensible about

[06:58] race. And you get Sage going about race

[07:00] and you're like, "Yes, yes, yes."

[07:01] everything she's saying because she's

[07:03] got that unique perspective, right? She

[07:05] really she she loves her mother. She

[07:07] loves her father. She sees what both

[07:09] experiences have been and she stands up

[07:11] for both equally. She doesn't buy into

[07:12] the nonsense. Same thing for mothers of

[07:15] sons and daughters,

[07:16] >> you know, because you you've or even

[07:19] just a mother of a son because the

[07:21] mother's had the experience as a woman

[07:23] but now has the sharp experience of

[07:25] needing to protect a boy. So, I really

[07:28] think it's a gift because it does send

[07:30] you to this place of whoa whoa whoa on

[07:33] the me too stuff like let's hold on like

[07:36] let's not get ahead of ourselves. Let's

[07:38] let's remember due process is important

[07:40] here and men's rights and you know that

[07:42] was half of the speech I gave for

[07:44] President Trump the night the night

[07:45] before the election was about our

[07:47] forgotten boys and what the left had

[07:49] done to them and you know just and our

[07:51] forgotten men you know what's being done

[07:53] to men. Um, so that's been sort of a

[07:55] main focus of my coverage, I would say,

[07:57] for the past 20 years, what what we're

[07:59] doing to boys and men in the name of

[08:01] progress, which is of course anything

[08:03] but.

[08:04] >> And that's so personal because your of

[08:06] your own sons.

[08:07] >> Yeah. I mean, my my sons and frankly my

[08:10] husband and to be perfectly honest with

[08:13] you, just my life as a lawyer where I'

[08:15] I'm trained to look at both sides. And

[08:17] if you look at both sides, you can see

[08:19] that there's been a lot of injustice

[08:21] done to American men. No one gives a

[08:23] damn how high their suicide rate is. No

[08:25] one gives a damn when they get thrown

[08:27] off college campuses with zero due

[08:29] process and almost no chance for appeal.

[08:31] And even when they do win their appeals,

[08:32] they're not allowed back on campus. All

[08:35] of society's ills being blamed on them.

[08:37] Meanwhile, they have none of the

[08:38] advantages. They don't get the

[08:39] affirmative action. They don't belong in

[08:41] DEI. They don't even get the quiet nod

[08:43] of like, okay, we'll take this one over

[08:45] that one anymore. They they just get

[08:47] nothing. They get all the blame, none of

[08:49] the advantages. Um, and God forbid they

[08:51] happen to be white, too. Forget about

[08:53] it. And then they're told to buck up.

[08:55] Then you have the Joy Reeds of the world

[08:57] saying, "Oh, white tears. Oh, white

[08:59] tears. Spare me." Like, absolutely no

[09:01] empathy whatsoever for their humanity.

[09:04] Uh, which is why, you know, you kind of

[09:07] want to smack her in her fat face, but

[09:11] you can't do that. So, instead, you just

[09:12] have to laugh at her because she

[09:14] actually has proven herself a fool.