OPINION: This article may contain commentary which reflects the author's opinion.
Former Fox News star and top-rated SiriusXM podcaster Megyn Kelly made a stark admission following the most recent 2024 GOP presidential debate, which she co-moderated.
Kelly revealed after the fourth debate that she “prayed” former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie would qualify for it so she could ask him a key question on stage.
The podcaster said she had “prayed to God and all of the angels above” for a chance to ask Christie about his stance on allowing permanent medical and surgical interventions for minor children who are supposedly gender confused.
“You do not favor a ban on trans medical treatments for minors, saying it’s a parental rights issue,” Kelly began, setting up her question at the NewsNation-hosted event.
“The surgeries done on minors involve cutting off body parts at a time when these kids cannot even legally smoke a cigarette. Kids who go from puberty blockers to cross-sex hormones are at a much greater likelihood of winding up sterile,” she added.
“How is it that you think a parent should be able to OK these surgeries — never mind the sterilization of a child — and aren’t you way too out of step on this issue to be the Republican nominee?” she asked.
“No, I’m not, because Republicans believe in less government, not more, and less involvement with government, not more involvement in people’s lives,” Christie began.
“And you know what, Megyn? I trust parents,” Christie, a former U.S. Attorney for New Jersey, continued.
“And we’re out there saying that we should empower parents in education, we should empower parents to make more decisions about where their kids go to school — I agree,” Christie said.
“We should empower parents to be teaching the values that they believe in in their homes without the government telling them what those values should be,” he noted further, adding that his position comes “as a father of four” children.
.@megynkelly tells me she “prayed to God and all the angels above” that Chris Christie would qualify for the fourth debate so she could ask him about his “radical” stance on transgender surgery for kids. pic.twitter.com/2y4RadiXFa
— Glenn Beck (@glennbeck) December 7, 2023
Christie then said that “every once in a while, parents are going to make decisions that we disagree with” but then said, “The minute you start to take those rights away from parents, you don’t know that slippery slope, what rights are going to be taken away next.”
But his position was immediately attacked by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, who intimated that even parents should not be allowed to permanently mutate their minor kids. “As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids!” he said, to wild applause.
As a parent, you do not have the right to abuse your kids. pic.twitter.com/HgJ4qhTJp2
— Ron DeSantis (@RonDeSantis) December 7, 2023
The debate, which was moderated by Kelly, along with Elizabeth Vargas and Eliana Johnson, included DeSantis; Christie; Nikki Haley, the former governor of South Carolina; and Vivek Ramaswamy, a businessman.
Earlier this year, former White House press secretary-turned Fox News host Kayleigh McEnany assailed Christie for another out-of-touch response to congressional testimony by FBI Director Christopher Wray.
Christie lauded the FBI and the Biden Justice Department despite their unprecedented targeting of the former president, as well as their targeting of traditional Catholics and conservative parents who complained about ‘woke’ content at local school board meetings.
“Is it all fixed? Of course, it’s not all fixed. Jim Comey and Eric Holder, and Loretta Lynch drastically harmed the Department of Justice and the FBI. And Chris Wray has now spent years fixing that,” Christie said in an interview on Fox News before McEnany’s show. “What you saw today was an animated and combative FBI director who is defending the men and women who work for him… and do a great job…”
He added: “So yeah, I think Chris Wray has done a very good job, and I think a lot of the stuff you see today is theater, people trying to raise money for campaigns.”
McEnany responded later during a segment on “Outnumbered” that his remarks won’t win over many Republicans, let alone supporters of Trump.
“Best of luck to Chris Christie with that message in a GOP primary, which has tremendous distrust for the FBI,” she said.
