The Trump administration’s decision to choose which reporters are assigned to the White House press pool has Megyn Kelly expressing concern.
The host of SiriusXM’s “The Megyn Kelly Show” argued that President Donald Trump’s administration “can’t f–k around” with the task of assigning the reporters following the announcement about the change.
“Moving forward, the White House press pool will be determined by the White House press team. Legacy outlets who have participated in the press pool for decades will still be allowed to join, fear not, but we will also be offering the privilege to well-deserving outlets who have never been allowed to share in this awesome responsibility,” White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt said at a press briefing this week, stripping the White House Correspondents’ Association of its longstanding role.
“As part of these changes, we will continue the rotation amongst the five major television networks to ensure the president’s remarks are heard far and wide around this world,” Leavitt added.
During her discussion on the topic with guest Buck Sexton, Kelly explained what made her “uncomfortable” with the administration’s new procedure.
.@MegynKelly and @BuckSexton debate if the Trump White House should decide who gets to be in the press pool.
Watch below, and download:https://t.co/CV2E6LDuux pic.twitter.com/tsvn1msDd6
— The Megyn Kelly Show (@MegynKellyShow) February 27, 2025
“The pool reporting job is very important. It’s you know, the pool was-, is the reason we saw Ronald Reagan get shot. They were covering Ronald Reagan — I mean, he wasn’t doing anything extraordinary that day –but the pool is there because they always have eyes on the president,” she said.
“And as a former reporter at Fox News — and I did White House duty when I was in my very young years there, here and there — pool is like a serious responsibility. You can’t f–k up pool, like you really do have to get it right,” Kelly contended.
“And typically the media will decide who can do pool because it’s very expensive and everybody understands it’s important that you get somebody in there who’s really going to tell you what happened,” she added, noting “I don’t know how I feel ” about the White House’s new stance on choosing the correspondents.
“It’s not the same as saying ‘We’re going to bring in new voices to the press briefing room.’ I love all that, but I actually happen to believe the media should decide who’s in the pool, like, because it’s a matter of resources,” she explained, pointing out details like “the number of wires you’ve got to get in there to get the cameras ready” as well as have an “experienced ” photographer to capture potential history-making moments.
“Like you can’t f–k around with that. You need true pros who have got a lot of experience, you know, setting up a shot, being ready for breaking news. I speak only from the TV realm because that’s the one I know,” Kelly said. “I got questions about this before I really endorse it or criticize it.”
Her guest, however, contended that “these are very talented people” who “should be given the ability to handle it their way.”
Kelly pushed back by noting the “independence of the press” and voiced concerns about a Democrat administration in the future deciding to only allow left-leaning outlets to cover the White House.
“I realize the press has lost its mind, but it’s written right into the Bill of Rights that yeah, a free press is one of our most fundamental values,” she said.
“I think your example there is, though, what we’ve dealt with, with all Democrat administrations, which is that you effectively…have the regime picking regime media to cover the regime,” Sexton noted.
“This White House, they haven’t thrown out all left-wing media. It’s almost still the pools that they want, dominant, left-wing media,” Kelly said. “I’m just saying the principle of it, if we’re going to discuss the principle of it, we’re on dangerous ground here.”
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Originally from New York, Powers graduated from New York University and eventually made her way to sunny South Florida. Powers also contributes to BizPac Review.
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