OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
SiriusXM host Megyn Kelly offered Florida GOP Gov. Ron DeSantis some harsh advice after his “botched” 2024 presidential announcement did not go as planned.
During a segment on her podcast, Kelly said she was not pleased with DeSantis’ announcement on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk last week, saying his presidential campaign launch had the “unsteadying feel of a disaster unfolding before your very eyes.”
Kelly said DeSantis should have had an announcement with an audience in attendance to showcase his ability to speak with voters and “story tell.”
She also said she’s made an attempt to have DeSantis on her podcast but that no one has gotten back to her, which led to her saying the governor needs to “grow a pair” and do interviews that might not always be easy.
“It was embarrassing and awkward and had the bewildering, unsteadying feel of a disaster unfolding before your very eyes. You can’t look away and yet you’re viscerally uncomfortable watching too. He made the announcement on Twitter Spaces with Elon Musk and our pal David Sacks. Kudos to all involved for choosing a different medium and bypassing the mainstream media which hates DeSantis and which is *hated* by most Republican voters,” Kelly said.
“I support that mission but its execution here, to put it kindly, did not work. How on earth were the kinks not worked out beforehand? Some 600,000 people tried logging on to watch – a considerable feat given that most of us have never been on Twitter Spaces – only to be met with messages like: ‘This Space is Not Available’ and ‘This Space Has Ended’ all before it had even begun! Not a good omen and certainly not the messaging a campaign wants on launch night. Not available! This is over! It was, indeed, a failure to launch and it’s dominating the news coverage today – the result of an unnecessary, unforced error on DeSantis’s part,” she added.
Kelly, a former Fox News host, called DeSantis “chicken” and said she had been in touch with the DeSantis team but had not gotten a “yes” on doing an interview.
“Grow a pair. Like, come on for an adversarial interview with somebody who is going to ask you some tough questions. Be a man. I’m sick of the duck and cover drill that he’s doing only with friendly media,” Kelly declared.
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“Where is the Freddy Mercury moment on the other side of the curtain?! With the fans cheering and smiling and excited to be with him?! Or how about just shots of DeSantis connecting with real-life voters, glad-handing with a smile, holding the hand of a concerned voter somewhere? Talk about a missed opportunity – especially for a guy who’s already suspected of lacking the personal touch one needs to succeed in presidential politics,” Kelly continued.
“What we then got once the glitches were behind us was a clearly scripted, uninspiring campaign speech of a few minutes – all audio-only – delivered in DeSantis’s trademark nasal voice – and then questions to kick it off about whether his policies in Florida are racist and reports of lost jobs in his state. What?? You led with questions about your controversies. Yes, they’re BS controversies but why go there? Right off the bat! Stay on *your* message! Stay on offense!” she said.
“Perhaps the worst offense was that through all of this, I didn’t laugh or connect with the candidate even once. And this is a guy whose policies – most of them anyway – I support. He didn’t crack a joke at his own expense. He didn’t say something that touched me about America or the troubles we’re going through. He didn’t even tap into the righteous anger so many of us are feeling that has inspired many of *his* policies in Florida! Maybe he doesn’t have that gene,” she said.
Kelly concluded: “Maybe he’s just a pen-and-paper guy who will pass the right legislation and that’s enough of a blessing. But he’s up against a man whose voters love him. Who’s up over DeSantis right now by anywhere from 30 to 45 points!… It’s true adoration, loyalty, and love between Donald Trump and his base voters – the ones DeSantis has been trying to woo.”
