Megyn Kelly unloaded on the Trump administration Monday, calling the idea that Iran was about to launch a preemptive strike against the United States “nonsense” and questioning the reasoning behind the weekend’s operation against Iran.
Speaking on her Sirius XM program, Kelly also took aim at CNN commentator Scott Jennings, accusing him of repeating administration talking points about the justification for the attack.
Kelly framed the central claim this way: that Iran was supposedly preparing preemptive missile strikes not only against U.S. military targets in the region but also against civilians. To Kelly, that argument didn’t pass a basic reality check.
She opened her monologue by saying “the war on Iran has begun,” while stressing that where it ends — and what comes next for the United States — is unknown. Kelly pointed to an announcement from U.S. Central Command, which oversees American military operations in the Middle East, stating that four U.S. service members had been killed, up from three the day before, with one service member later succumbing to injuries.
Kelly said her first reaction was prayer for the troops who would be tasked with carrying out the mission and putting their lives on the line. She questioned why they were being asked to do so, and for whom, urging listeners to keep the service members in their prayers as divisions grow over the U.S. action and opinions shift in the days and weeks ahead.
From there, Kelly argued that no one should have to die for a foreign country. In her view, the fallen service members did not die for the United States, but rather “for Iran or for Israel.” She said she understood the dynamics at play and expressed hope that long-term outcomes might become clearer, but insisted the U.S. government’s job is not to look out for Iran or Israel — it is to look out for Americans.
Kelly also suggested the conflict “feels very much” like Israel’s war, and she named prominent figures she said had been pushing America into it, including Mark Levin, Ben Shapiro, Sen. Lindsey Graham, and Miriam Adelson.
As her criticism continued, she offered praise for Tucker Carlson before turning back to Jennings. Kelly cited a post she attributed to Jennings on X in which he said senior Trump administration officials told him “credible Intel” indicated Iran planned preemptive missile strikes against U.S. military targets in the region and civilian targets as well, and that failing to act would have resulted in mass U.S. casualties.
Kelly wasn’t buying it. She urged people to stop and think, arguing that it made no sense Iran would attempt such strikes while aware of the major U.S. military assets moved into the region, including aircraft carriers. Kelly said she is close to the administration in many ways but would not “allow them to use me like a fool,” concluding that the preemptive-strike claim was obviously implausible.
[READ MORE: Fourth U.S. Service Member Dies From Wounds Sustained in Iran Strikes, CENTCOM Confirms]
