On Tuesday evening, Megyn Kelly Presents kicked off with headlining guest Donald Trump. This was to be the big, confrontational moment after a contentious series of Fox News debates. During last summer’s first meeting between Trump his most infamous moderator, he threatened Kelly after she dared to ask him about his disparaging comments regarding women. Then Trump got upset and tossed out several weeks of giant “bimbo” tweets before stomping his foot and skipping the second Fox News debate (which saw Kelly rise victorious). Then the two finally met again for the most heated moment of the season.
Now — following a not-so-secret meeting at Trump Tower — Kelly interviewed Trump on her Fox special. And boy, he couldn’t have been a bigger pussycat during this interview. He was especially nice (and conveniently forgetful) when the subject of Twitter came up. Trump explained that he gets in trouble retweeting (his way of explaining that Heidi Cruz insult), and Kelly gently reminded him that he called her “bimbo” several times. Trump delivered a cagey answer: “Did I say that? Ooohh, okay. Excuse me.”
Other highlights included Kelly informing Trump that debates are “not a cocktail party.” She pressed Trump on whether he has second thoughts on all the crap he’s said. He replied, “Absolutely, I have regrets. I could have done things differently. I could have used different language in a couple of instances.” Trump then groveled with the respect he has for Kelly after she called him up for a meeting. He concedes that he fought dirty to become the presumptive Republican nominee, but he thinks the tactic was necessary. And he may be halfway correct, especially considering how slimy Ted Cruz behaved while spurring on fake reports (starting at the Iowa caucus) that his competitors dropped out of the race.
Kelly did have a wonderful moment during this interview. She unflinchingly stared at Trump and reminded him of his vast legion of followers. She urged him to “take that responsibility seriously and change your tone to try to be more unifying and less divisive.” Surprisingly, he handled the advice well and said he understood his power. In a measured voice, Trump admitted that he resisted acting “presidential … in a way, it’s a bad word.” And just like that, Trump revealed himself as a slightly complex human being (but one who cannot tell the truth).
The following interview clips tell the tale of a general election candidate. Will this aura last, or will Trump devolve into a Twitter troll within a day? We won’t have to wait long to find out.