On MSNBC last week, host Alex Wagner argued that statements made by Donald Trump’s legal team aren’t prevalent in journalism. Megyn Kelly believes Wagner is ignorant about the real operations of her own network.
During The Megyn Kelly Show, the former NBC News host said the network uses the same strategies that the National Enquirer used to help Donald Trump in 2016.
“The media started to sneer at the National Enquirer’s tactics, and I’m not defending their tactics. We all know what the National Enquirer is and what it does, but I made the point at the time that their sanctimony was a bit misplaced, because I knew very well — from my time over in broadcast news and cable for that matter — that these networks, especially the big ones, also pay for stories,” said Kelly.
“They may go out there on the air and act holier than thou, ‘We would never do that. We’d never pay for a story.’ What they do, and I said at the time, you know how they do it. They pay ‘licensing fees’ for somebody’s exclusive photos. And it’s just a backdoor scuzzy way of doing what you’re not allowed to do through the front door.”
Kelly then aired a clip of Wagner suggesting that asking people to sign non-disclosure agreements, utilizing a “catch-and-kill” PR strategy, and paying sources for stories does not happen. “That is not how the world works,” she suggested.
“She is clueless. NDAs happen all the time, especially at NBC. Some of the people on this panel may have had to sign one, I’m just saying,” Kelly, the former NBC News host, said. “And I could give you a long list of women who have been silenced by NBC News, her news organization, because of what her male colleagues have done, alright? So wake up, sweetheart. Read a newspaper every once in a while instead of struggling on a teleprompter like you always do.”
