Megyn Kelly is known for making controversial comments — often about race. She did it again Thursday, with an inflammatory tweet about the Kenosha, Wisconsin police shooting of Jacob Blake.
On Thursday morning, Kelly tweeted out a link to a Daily Mail article with the blaring headline: “Jacob Blake was armed with a KNIFE when cops shot him says Wisconsin AG.”
Related Story: Jacob Blake Paralyzed After Police Shooting, Family Says
Jacob Blake was armed with a KNIFE when cops shot him says Wisconsin AG https://t.co/Q3xbwgUtfJ
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) August 27, 2020
While the Daily Mail used that headline on social media, the actual (wordy) title on the article was more clear, “Wisconsin AG reveals police recovered a knife from the driver’s side floor of Jacob Blake’s car and says ONE cop shot him seven times as they responded to 911 call from Blake’s girlfriend.”
That didn’t stop Kelly from fanning the flames, by sharing the misleading headline with her 2.4 million followers. Journalists, influencers and celebrities quickly called out the former Fox News and Today show host.
Actress Rosanna Arquette replied to Kelly’s tweet: “They are lying, he did not have a knife in his hand, his children were in the back of his car, stop spinning this, it’s despicable.”
A Black Lady Sketch Show writer Akilah Green added, “This is an astonishing lie, even for you.”
Filmmaker Ava DuVernay replied to Kelly: “You’re so predictable that it’s slightly amusing.”
The Nation sports editor Dave Zirin added, “This is some really ugly shtick you’ve got going on here. There has to be a better way for you to live than this.”
Writer Brian Jay Jones noted: “‘A knife in the car’ and ‘armed with a knife’ aren’t the same thing. I have a tire iron in my car. I’m not armed with it.”
Meanwhile, columnist Brandon Friedman brought up Kelly’s 2013 comment on Fox News, when she said both Santa Claus and Jesus were white. “Do you still claim Jesus was white?” he replied.
In 2018, Kelly angered viewers on NBC’s Megyn Kelly Today, when she defended Halloween costumes using blackface.
“You truly do get in trouble if you are a white person who puts on blackface at Halloween or a Black person who puts on whiteface for Halloween,” she said at the time. “Back when I was a kid, that was OK, as long as you were dressing up as like a character.”
Despite making a tearful on-air apology, Kelly’s show was quickly canceled. Weeks later, NBC paid out her contract and showed her the door.
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