Megyn Kelly has extraordinarily unloaded on President Trump, telling Russell Brand on her SiriusXM show that the commander-in-chief is “not a moral man,” “not the greatest husband in the world,” and “extremely petty and thin-skinned.” The blistering assessment from one of Trump’s most reliable media defenders adds another high-profile voice to a growing MAGA civil war over the president’s escalating conflict with Iran.
Kelly’s remarks came during Episode 1301 of The Megyn Kelly Show, which aired on Wednesday, April 23. The former Fox News star attempted to offer a measured critique of the president as a wave of his most prominent boosters — including Tucker Carlson and Alex Jones — have turned on him over the Iran war and his treatment of longtime loyalists.
A Devastating Personal Critique
Speaking with Brand — the British comedian, actor, and author of the forthcoming book How to Become a Christian in Seven Days — Kelly conceded that many in MAGA world have chosen to ignore Trump’s worst traits.
The host, who has shifted her stance on Trump before, did not go as far as Carlson in renouncing her support entirely. She praised the president’s “charming” sense of humor and his “unwillingness to stay down,” noting there is “still, in my view, a lot to like about Trump.” But, she added, “some of those darker demons are much more in the front view right now.”
Kelly reserved her sharpest criticism for what she described as Trump’s habit of abandoning the people who fought hardest for him. She told Brand the president has been turning on his most loyal supporters because they refuse to back the Iran war, while embracing figures who “hated him from the beginning and were the original never Trumpers.”
Kelly noted that she and Carlson have occasionally clashed with Trump over the years despite consistently defending him through criminal indictments and the 2024 campaign. The reward for that loyalty, she argued, is nonexistent: “If you have a principled disagreement with something he does, you’re otherized, you’re the enemy.”
Carlson and Jones Break Ranks
Kelly’s comments arrive amid an unprecedented fracturing of the MAGA coalition. On April 21, Carlson — Fox News’ former primetime star — publicly expressed regret for supporting Trump, telling his brother Buckley on The Tucker Carlson Show: “We’ll be tormented by it for a long time — I will be. And I want to say I’m sorry for misleading people.”
Far-right conspiracy theorist Alex Jones went even further earlier in the month, writing on X that Trump “literally sounds like an unhinged super villain from a Marvel comic movie” and asking on his show, “How do we 25th Amendment his ***?” That call to invoke the constitutional mechanism for removing a sitting president marked a stunning rupture from a broadcaster who spent years portraying Trump as a generational figure.
The breaking point for many appears to be Trump’s decision to forge ahead with the Iran war over the loud objections of his core supporters, combined with his very public attacks on Pope Leo XIV. Kelly told Brand that Trump is “alienating so many of his core supporters, biggest believers and boosters and running to people who have not been able to stand him for 10 years.”
Brand Opens up on Perry, Trudeau, and Faith
While the Trump segment dominated headlines, the wide-ranging interview also saw Brand get unusually candid about his own life. The 50-year-old, who awaits an October trial on rape and sexual assault charges in the U.K., addressed the accusations directly, admitted to sleeping with a 16-year-old when he was 30 — legal in Britain but “exploitative” in hindsight — and reflected on past drug and sex addictions.
Brand also weighed in on his ex-wife Katy Perry’s relationship with former Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as well as the recent sexual assault allegations leveled against Perry by actress Ruby Rose. He spoke about finding God and his Christian faith, distinguishing immoral and criminal behavior.
The pair explored heavier political terrain, including the alleged connection between the Southern Poverty Law Center and the 2017 Charlottesville rally referenced in a new DOJ indictment, the question of why Trump rose to power, and what Kelly called “the fraud of the two-party system.”
A Coalition in Open Revolt
Kelly’s willingness to publicly question Trump’s character — even while stopping short of disavowing him — underscores how badly the Iran war has damaged the president’s standing with the media figures who built his movement. Kelly was particularly cutting on the question of loyalty, telling Brand bluntly that none flows back from the Oval Office.
For a president who has long demanded absolute fealty, the defections of Kelly, Carlson, and Jones represent perhaps the most serious internal crisis of his second term. With the Iran conflict showing no signs of cooling, the question now is whether this MAGA civil war ends in reconciliation — or in something far more consequential.
Episode 1301 is available on YouTube and the SiriusXM app.