Megyn Kelly gained national attention when she moderated the first Republican primary debate last August, where she faced off with then-Republican candidate Donald Trump. During the debate, she asked the then candidate, Trump, about derogatory comments she said he made about women, from calling them “fat pigs” to “dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”
In an exclusive interview with Dr. Phil airing Tuesday, Kelly says there’s a backstory to that moment, which she opens up about for the first time in her new memoir, “Settle For More.”
“Once he announced his candidacy for president, one of the stories that broke about him and it was significant news in the lead-up to that debate, it was July of 2015, was that in his divorce proceeding from his first wife, Ivana …”. She had under oath made accusations that she later recanted, “but the news broke that under oath she accused him of it,” explains Kelly, who practiced law for nine years before beginning a career in journalism. “I had on the reporter on my show and I challenged him about why he thought this was relevant and how he accounted for this reality that people do lie in divorce proceedings all the time in his reporting. Trump was not happy with that interview. He wasn’t happy that I put the reporter on the show.”
Kelly says four days before the presidential debate, she received a phone call from an unhappy Trump.
“He called me up and threatened me, and made very clear to me that he was extremely displeased,” Kelly claims. “I told him flat out, ‘Mr. Trump, I’m sorry you’re unhappy, but you don’t control the editorial on The Kelly File. And that was it, he started screaming at me, he hung up the phone and the next time we met was that Thursday night.”
Kelly says that left her in an awkward situation. “I was in a position where I had to ask myself, ‘What am I going to do?’ Because he’s very angry, he’s volatile. We’d seen that already at this point in the election, and it’s very likely that he’ll come after me – because one thing I forgot to mention, is in this phone conversation, he said, ‘I almost unleashed my beautiful Twitter account against you. And I still might,’” Kelly recalls.
On Tuesday’s episode, Kelly also opens up about her relationship with her former boss Roger Ailes, former CEO of Fox News, who she has alleged sexually harassed her, allegations he has publicly denied. Check here to see where you can watch.