Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly has called out President Donald Trump over what she described as lying. Kelly made the call while reacting to an AI-generated picture of Trump in a Christ-like pose.
Kelly delivered the assessment on her podcast this week, in which she zeroed in on Trump’s claim that he thought the picture depicted him as a doctor helping patients through the Red Cross.
“Such a f** lie,” she said as first reported by The Hill on Saturday, April 18.
Kelly said that Trump should have taken down the photo, admitted he was wrong, and apologized to the public without giving another reason, which she called a lie.
“Take it down and just say you’re sorry, or don’t say you’re sorry and take it down, but don’t try to gaslight us. We can see.”
Trump’s AI-generated picture.
The president shared an AI-generated picture on Truth Social that showed him wearing flowing robes, with a glowing hand resting on a sick man in a hospital bed.
After people got mad, the President quickly took down the post.
When reporters asked about the first image the following day, Trump insisted it had nothing to do with religion.
“I thought it was me as a doctor, and it had to do with the Red Cross,” he said. “It’s supposed to be me as a doctor making people better, and I do make people better.”
Kelly rejected that account and called that original post completely inappropriate for a president.
Kelly, a lifelong Catholic who once worked at Fox News and helped boost Pete Hegseth’s path to Defense Secretary, did not stop there.
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She also slammed Hegseth for injecting Bible references into Pentagon briefings about the ongoing U.S. military operations against Iran.
During last week’s briefing, Hegseth was asked about the Epic Fury operation and its impact, including reports of 170 young girls getting killed in U.S. strikes.
Instead of sticking strictly to operational details, he read from the Gospel of Mark about Jesus healing a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath.
He then compared skeptical reporters to the Pharisees, the New Testament figures who opposed Jesus despite witnessing miracles.
Kelly calls out Hegseth.
Kelly told conservative podcaster Britt Mayer she supports personal faith but draws a firm line at mixing it with announcements about war plans that could kill civilians.
“Religion, obviously, it’s a major part of Pete’s life, and I’m in favor of that; it doesn’t belong when you’re talking about our plans to wipe out people,” she said. “These two things do not belong together, and I’m just really uncomfortable with it.”
She added that she would have harshly criticized former President Joe Biden if his Pentagon had done the same thing.
Her stance found an echo from another Trump ally. On his “War Room” show Thursday, Steve Bannon said Hegseth’s New Testament reference distracted from the real military updates delivered by Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other commanders.
“That’s all the mainstream media is covering right now,” Bannon said. “We ought to tone that down and focus. When you get to the Pentagon, let’s have a military briefing.”
Also read: Megyn Kelly Takes Aim at Trump Allies Over Iran War Push
More controversies emerged as Trump traded public barbs with Pope Leo XIV. It all started after the U.S.-born pope had criticized the Iranian operations and called for peace.
Trump responded by calling the pope weak on crime and foreign policy. He even claimed the pontiff thinks Iran should have nuclear weapons, a statement the Vatican refuted.
By Saturday afternoon, neither the White House nor the Pentagon responded directly to Kelly’s remarks.
Trump has also not addressed her criticism of his explanation for the image. However, Trump has been attacking Kelly and other conservative commentators, including Tucker Carlson, calling them fake MAGA, after they publicly called him out after the Iran-U.S. war started.
The commentators said Trump had promised to end the wars when he campaigned for a second term in the White House, but ended up starting one.
