President Trump retweeted praise from former Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, five years after the two clashed during a 2015 Republican primary debate.
“Trump won this debate, handily,” Kelly tweeted after the final 2020 presidential debate Thursday evening. “Trump was substantive, on-point, well-tempered. Definitely helped himself, when it mattered most.”
Trump then retweeted that missive from his account, along with other positive views and screenshots of Twitter polls that showed him winning the face-off against Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden.
Trump won this debate, handily. Biden wasn’t a force at all. Trump was substantive, on-point, well-tempered. Definitely helped himself, when it mattered most.
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) October 23, 2020
The heated feud between Kelly and Trump began during the 2015 debate when Kelly asked Trump to respond to allegations that he was sexist, citing claims he called women “fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals.” The feud reached a crescendo that August, when Trump told CNN, “You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
The comments drew condemnation from a number of conservatives, and the Republican Party rescinded Trump’s invitation to a major political event, CNN reported at the time.
Trump repeatedly criticized Kelly on his Twitter, calling her a “lightweight,” saying that she was “off her game,” and retweeting a tweet that called Kelly a “bimbo.” Fox News’s then-CEO Roger Ailes demanded an apology from Trump, who refused, saying that it was Kelly who ought to apologize to him. Trump also refused to attend a debate hosted by Fox News.
Trump and Kelly later “cleared the air” during a private meeting in Trump’s office in April 2016, according to CNN.
“We met for about an hour, just the two of us, and had a chance to clear the air,” Kelly said at the time. “Mr. Trump and I discussed the possibility of an interview, and I hope we will have news to announce on that soon.”
Kelly left Fox News in 2017 and briefly worked at NBC News until 2018. In September, she announced her own independent media company, Devil May Care Media, and started a podcast, the Megyn Kelly Show.
