Conservative media personality Megyn Kelly went after CNN’s Chris Licht and his ability to lead the news organization after a profile in The Atlantic put him in the spotlight for all the wrong reasons.
“In the piece, Licht comes across as self-aggrandizing and insecure, uttering phrases to a reporter like ‘I’m a machine!’ while pumping iron in the gym. My god. What kind of a man does that?” Kelly questioned during her Tuesday episode of SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show,” later adding: “It’s clear he fancies himself a mini Roger Ailes wannabe.”
The piece Kelly is referring to was Tim Alberta’s profile of Licht for The Atlantic, “Inside the Meltdown at CNN.” In the article, Alberta breaks down Licht’s goal to “restore the network’s reputation for serious journalism” — and how it all eventually went downhill. The profile also paints the embattled CEO as a boastful “badass” who is obsessed with his predecessor Jeff Zucker, while his CNN staff’s faith in him continues slipping away.
“Now, the CNN staffers are reportedly in full revolt. Their little feelings already tender from the CNN town hall where Trump was platformed and spewed lies are now hurt by the criticism,” Kelly went on Tuesday, saying she believes Licht thinks of himself as a successor to Ailes, the former chairman and CEO of Fox News.
“In fact, I found myself agreeing with much of what Licht found faulty in the CNN he was inheriting after Jeff Zucker’s ouster,” Kelly admitted. “It’s clear he fancies himself a mini Roger Ailes wannabe. But as I said on Friday, there was only one Roger Ailes — and Chris Licht ain’t it.”
Kelly then played into the idea that Licht is supposedly trying to fill the same shoes as Zucker, while at the same time criticizing Zucker’s friendly relationship with his former staff.
“Licht is now moving his office from the 22nd floor to the newsroom like Jeff Zucker did, but that’s no answer,” Kelly said. “The children don’t need moment to moment access to daddy. The chumminess of Zucker with his staff was actually a problem, not an accomplishment. He wanted to be liked, he didn’t want to lead… But it is evidence of the fact that Licht doesn’t know how to appease his minions, he’s flailing. And the minions are apparently done with The Machine.”
Watch the full segment from “The Megyn Kelly Show” in the video above.
