‘Victim shaming from Megyn, I expect no less’: Megyn Kelly disgustingly shames Pete Hegseth’s alleged victim
Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly disgustingly shamed Pete Hegseth’s alleged victim while suggesting that women are to blame for men’s actions.
Former Fox News host Hegseth is Donald Trump’s nominee for the Secretary of Defense. Not only do many believe Hegseth is grossly unqualified for the role, but numerous concerning allegations have arisen about his behavior towards women and struggles with alcohol. In particular, a sexual assault allegation from 2017 resurfaced. Hegseth was accused of assaulting a woman at a Republican Women’s conference. She believes he may have drugged her drink, as she does not recall how she ended up in his hotel room or how she made it back to her own. Despite going to the emergency room for a rape kit, prosecutors, for unknown reasons, decided not to press charges. Meanwhile, Hegseth paid her as part of an NDA to avoid a civil lawsuit.
Hegseth and much of MAGA have falsely claimed he was cleared of any wrongdoing. However, since no trial or judgment existed, Hegseth was never proven innocent and never cleared his name. Many also find the NDA and payout suspicious for someone who claims to be innocent. Even so, MAGA instantly began fawning over Hegseth because Trump picked him and pushed the false claim the allegations were disproven. It didn’t take long for Kelly to launch into her horrific, disgusting, victim-blaming take on the allegations.
Megyn Kelly repulses the internet with her victim-blaming
A week ago, Kelly had Hegseth appear on her show. She only heard his side of the story and seemingly never spoke to his victim. Hence, she has no real way of knowing what happened that day. However, not only did she decide to take Hegseth’s word for it, but she decided to go on a tirade against the victim. In fact, she almost seemed to be saying that she believed Hegseth did assault the victim but that it was the victim’s fault. She started by criticizing the victim for thinking it was within her “purview” to “lecture him on how he treats women.”
Kelly continued, “When you go into his room on your own and have sex with a man who is a stranger to you, expect no better. Expect. No. Better. That applies to her and all women.” She went on to say that other women “have made the same mistake and been treated with equal disregard.” She concluded her disgusting tirade with, “I guess people have to learn this, like, firsthand. Honestly, you’re really not asking … you’re not demanding to be treated any better.”
Kelly’s rhetoric isn’t only disgusting but also extremely dangerous. She’s promoting the idea that men have no control over their actions and, therefore, are exonerated of all responsibility for them. Instead, she claims that women are to blame for men’s actions. It’s beyond horrific to actually say that women should just “expect” men to treat them that way. This is exactly why so many victims are afraid to share their stories because they’re scared that heartless enablers like Kelly are going to question their character and smear their reputations. So many victims already struggle with shame and self-blame without pick-me MAGA women attacking and slandering them. Kelly twisted the victim’s story to ignore the allegation of drugging. However, even in Kelly’s made-up version of events, assault is still assault, regardless of whether a woman had drinks with a man or willingly went to his hotel room or not.
Sadly, internet users noted that they “expect no less” than victim shaming from Kelly, who has given fiery speeches in support of another accused rapist, Donald Trump, while attacking women like Taylor Swift for daring to have a political opinion. Many commenters also pointed out the hypocrisy in her statement. What’s especially shocking about her rhetoric is that Kelly is also an alleged victim. In 2016, she accused Fox CEO Roger Ailes of sexual harassment. In 2020, she got emotional speaking about how she dealt with victim-blaming herself and felt guilt for not reporting her experiences sooner. It’s hard to understand how someone who has experienced sexual harassment and understood the struggles of self-blame and of being believed could sit on her show years later and urge her viewers to disbelieve, shame, and spread false claims about another victim.
Kelly highlights a double standard in the MAGA community. All of these people would want to be believed and supported if it happened to them, yet incessantly advocate for never believing other women. Meanwhile, she should be deeply ashamed of promoting victim-blaming while encouraging men not to take accountability for their actions. If she genuinely does believe that it has gotten to the point where women should “expect” to be assaulted, then why on earth is she talking about women instead of using her platform to push men to change their ways?
Have a tip we should know? tips@themarysue.com
