Megyn Kelly claims 'Donald Trump was worried about ex-wife rape accusation questions' ahead of Republican debate
The Fox News anchor is promoting a new memoir
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump may have been anxious before the first Republican debate because he believed he was going to be asked about his first wife’s claim - later retracted - that he had raped her, one of the event’s moderators has claimed.
Fox News anchor Megan Kelly, who is promoting a new book and who was one of the moderators for the debate in Cleveland in the summer of 2015, said that that in advance of the event, Mr Trump had complained to officials at her network about what questions she might ask.
In her memoir, Settle for More, she said: “Mr Trump he had ‘heard’ that my first question was a very pointed question directed at him.”
Ms Kelly’s first question was indeed directed at Mr Trump, and she asked him to explain his offensive comments about women, saying he had referred to them as “fat pigs” and “dogs”. Mr Trump later claimed Ms Kelly had asked him the tough question because she was menstruating
But the anchor has revealed in an interview with USA Today, that Mr Trump had been most worried that she would bring up allegations made by the tycoon’s first wife, Ivana Trump.
In divorce papers filed 25 years ago, she has said Mr Trump had raped her during a fight.
The allegation was contained in the the 1993 book Lost Tycoon: The Many Lives of Donald J Trump. Ivana Trump would later withdraw the allegation, but said that he had violated her. Mr Trump denied the allegation. Mr Trump’s lawyer, Michael Cohen, said last year that it was impossible in law for a man to rape his wife.
Mr Trump's campaign transition team did not respond to inquiries on Friday.
The newspaper said that a few weeks before the Cleveland debate, Ms Kelly devoted a segment of her programme, The Kelly File, to an interview with the author of a report on The Daily Beast about the rape allegation.
Ms Kelly said that after the segment aired, an angry Mr Trump called and told her that “I almost unleashed my beautiful Twitter account on you, and I still may”.
Ms Kelly, 45, said she did not believe her question leaked to Mr Trump in advance.
“I don’t think he had any idea,” she said. “What I think he was worried about was his divorce from Ivana Trump….He was afraid I was going to bring that up.”
Ms Kelly has said that following the debate, she began to receive death threats and hate mail from supporters of Mr Trump. She felt obliged to travel with bodyguards, she said.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments