Megyn Kelly tore into ABC reporter Jonathan Karl on Wednesday, accusing him of allowing Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., to “get away with murder” during a recent interview and failing to challenge the congresswoman on her political record.
Kelly unleashed on Karl during an appearance on Australia’s News24, arguing that the ABC journalist allowed Ocasio-Cortez to offer left-wing talking points without meaningful pushback.
“The performance of Jonathan Karl of ABC News across from her when she tried that was abysmal. He embarrassed himself, he embarrassed the profession of journalism,” Kelly said.
“He was looking at her with his cow eyes like ‘Ha ha ha, right, yeah?’ It was just embarrassing, and let her get away with murder.”
Kelly then doubled down on the criticism.
“I mean, literally get away with murder. And didn’t even seem embarrassed about it, because that’s his team,” she said.
Kelly specifically objected to Karl’s handling of Ocasio-Cortez’s response to questions about democratic socialist Francesca Hong during the congresswoman’s appearance on ABC’s “This Week.”
Karl questioned Ocasio-Cortez about Hong’s previous calls to cancel Thanksgiving, abolish the police and eliminate prisons.
“Woke 1 was crazy,” Ocasio-Cortez quipped in response, prompting a chuckle from Karl.
Kelly argued that instead of laughing along, Karl should have confronted Ocasio-Cortez over what Kelly characterized as the congresswoman’s own role in pushing the Democratic Party toward more “extreme” positions.
“She is the reason we have ‘woke,’ and there is no ‘woke 1.0’ or 2.0,” Kelly said.
“There is only one woke, and it’s still here and it’s disgusting. It’s like this toxic film that’s all over us, this cancer that’s still in some of our cells that we need a little chemo to excise.”
Kelly continued her criticism by turning to the “defund the police” movement, which Ocasio-Cortez supported.
Kelly claimed that approximately 2,500 Black Americans have died as a result of inner-city gun violence since 2020 following the rise of the movement.
She placed significant responsibility for those deaths on Ocasio-Cortez, while acknowledging the New York Democrat was not alone in advocating for reducing police funding.
“That’s squarely on AOC,” Kelly said. “I blame her. She’s not the only one, but she bears a lot of the blame and was pushing to defund police.”
For Kelly, Karl’s interview represented more than simply a missed opportunity to challenge a prominent Democratic lawmaker.
She argued his performance was an embarrassment to journalism because, in her view, he failed to confront Ocasio-Cortez about positions and political movements she believes the congresswoman helped promote.
Kelly’s criticism ultimately centered on Karl’s willingness to chuckle at Ocasio-Cortez’s dismissal of the earlier “woke” era rather than pressing her about her own involvement in the progressive politics Kelly was condemning.
[READ MORE: David Crowley Edges Democratic Socialist Francesca Hong in Razor-Thin Wisconsin Governor Primary]
