Former Fox News commentator Megyn Kelly is facing a huge social media storm after she questioned whether Jeffrey Epstein was even a pedophile. Hours after US President Trump announced that he would ask Attorney General Pam Bondi to investigate the convicted sex offender’s ties with high-profile figures like Bill Clinton, Kelly’s clip on her SiriusXM podcast, suggesting that there is still no evidence of children under 10 coming forward to say they were assaulted by Epstein went viral.

Megyn Kelly seemingly suggests Epstein was not a ‘paedophile’

Kelly’s comment has split social media, with many users pointing to her earlier remarks in 2018. Back then, on her show Megyn Kelly TODAY, she strongly pointed out that the age of consent in California is 18. She told viewers that a 14-year-old or even a 17-year-old cannot “consent” in such cases.

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The criticism began after the November 13 episode of The Megyn Kelly Show. On the show, Kelly said a friend of hers, someone she claimed had inside information on the Epstein case, believed Epstein was “not a pedophile.”

She then added that Epstein liked “barely legal types,” meaning girls around 15, though she repeatedly stressed that these were not her own claims. She made it clear she found it disgusting, but said she was only repeating “facts” told to her. Kelly even said that her friend believed Epstein did not target children as young as eight, but preferred very young teenage girls who could “look legal” to someone walking by, according to the Independent. 

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“As for Epstein, I’ve said this before, but just as a reminder, I do know somebody very, very close to this case who is in a position to know virtually everything,” Kelly said. “Not everything, but virtually everything. And this person has told me from the start years and years ago that Jeffrey Epstein, in this person’s view, was not a pedophile.”

She continued, “He was into the barely legal type, like he liked 15-year-old girls…He wasn’t into like 8-year-olds. But he liked the very young, like teen types… that would look legal to a passerby.”

She brought up a claim by former Attorney General Pam Bondi, who said Epstein had “tens of thousands of videos” of alleged child sexual abuse on his computer. But in the very next line, she said she does not trust Bondi. Finally, Kelly said she didn’t know the full truth about Epstein.  Her guest, Batya Ungar-Sargon disagreed and told her there is no meaningful difference. 

Kelly’s comments spark outrage 

Kelly’s comments went viral on social media. By the morning of November 14, “Epstein” and “Megyn Kelly” were both trending at #1 on X. Dozens of posts pointed out how bizarre and dangerous her comments sounded. Comedian Gianmarco Soresi wrote:
“It cannot be remembered enough that these were the same people who got worked up about drag brunches.” Another user said,  “To all the weirdos defending Megyn Kelly: 15-year-olds are underage. That is statutory rape. Pretty simple.” Someone else wrote,  “He wasn’t a pedophile, he just liked 15-year-olds’ is not the defence you think it is, Megyn.”

Interestingly, Kelly’s controversial comments came on the same day the House Oversight Committee released another set of records linked to the Epstein case.