Commentary

Kelly vs Trump: The Battle of the GOP Debate

By Karly Matthews, Editor-in-Chief|February 1, 2016

Trump was a no-show on debate night, but his rallies all over the country are successful as ever. Photo courtesy of Darron Birgenheier from Reno, NV, USA. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0 via Wikimedia Commons.

Following a public argument with FOX News’s Megyn Kelly, GOP front-runner Donald Trump was obviously absent on January 28 at the Party’s debate.

During August’s debate, Megyn Kelly, host of The Kelly File, asked what were, in presidential candidate Donald Trump’s mind, unfair and biased questions in relation to his comments on women’s appearances.

The result: Trump backed out of the debate. The question: did Kelly win her battle with Trump against all odds, or did Trump dominate the debate even though he was a no-show?

Following the year’s first and Trump-less GOP debate, The Salon called Kelly “fearless” and “fearsome” while debunking assumptions that Kelly is a “closet liberal” because she called Trump on his controversial statements.

Megyn Kelly works as a FOX News correspondent when not starring on 'The Kelly File.' Photo courtesy of MattGagnon. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons. — Megyn Kelly works as a FOX News correspondent when not starring on ‘The Kelly File.’ Photo courtesy of MattGagnon. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons.

The Washington Post named Kelly the “star of the show,” the headline reading she is a “fantastic debate moderator.” Kelly proved that Trump’s unflattering opinion of her moderating was undoubtedly wrong as she effortlessly made candidates like Senators Ted Cruz and Marco Rubio answer tough questions about their changing policy ideas. Her questions were arguably very fair, and in fact, she was able to extract answers from candidates that America wanted to hear.

Despite Kelly’s obvious success, Trump barely, if at all, suffered from not attending the debate. Of course, if he had been present, there is no doubt he would have made conversation-worthy comments, but because his memorable expressions and loud mouth weren’t on the stage, the word on everyone’s lips was Trump.

Even the candidates couldn’t stop talking about the man. When Kelly opened the debate by addressing “the elephant not in the room,” Cruz jokingly insulted his fellow debaters to imitate Trump stating, “Let me say, I’m a maniac, and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly… and [Dr. Ben Carson], you’re a terrible surgeon.”

Senator Ted Cruz, arguably Trump's biggest competition for the nomination, mocked Trump in his absence at the debate. Photo courtesy of Michael Vadon (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons. — Senator Ted Cruz, arguably Trump’s biggest competition for the nomination, mocked Trump in his absence at the debate. Photo courtesy of Michael Vadon (Own work) [CC BY-SA 4.0], via Wikimedia Commons.

Although everyone in the political world seems to be talking about Kelly vs Trump, the real answer to the conflict is in the numbers. When the debate aired, the Iowa Caucuses and New Hampshire primary were both rapidly approaching, so all eyes were on the polls, those of Iowa specifically. As of January 30, Trump reclaimed the lead in Iowa with 28 percent as opposed to Cruz’s 23 percent. His defiance, whether it be deemed justified or not, seems to have grabbed America’s attention once again.

In short, both Kelly and Trump won this battle. Kelly appeared on the cover of Vanity Fair to tell her side of the story, and The Kelly File, shown by its ever-improving ratings, is becoming more and more popular. The world is still buzzing from Trump’s actions, and his poll numbers show his obvious success. In the battle of Kelly v.s. Trump 2016, both parties are yelling “victory.”