Leonid Bershidsky, Bloomberg: Putin May Want to Pick a Male Interviewer Next Time
When Megyn Kelly turned up the heat, he turned to nastiness and eyerolls.
Russian President Vladimir Putin needed someone to deliver a message to his Western adversaries. He picked Megyn Kelly of NBC News, which was probably a mistake.
Kelly was invited to Putin's signature investment gathering, the annual St. Petersburg Economic Forum, to moderate a panel of four leaders: Putin, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Austrian Chancellor Christian Kern and Moldovan President Igor Dodon. The motley crew seemed calibrated to signal that Russia is working constructively with the developing world's giants, with European neighbors, and within its traditional sphere of influence. It's by no means isolated.
Next to this display, Kelly represented the U.S., the one "pole" in a multipolar world that's not engaged in constructive interaction with Putin's Russia. Mostly ignoring the other panelists, she grilled Putin on supposedly inconvenient subjects such as election interference and his support for Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. Putin, however, has heard these questions many times before, and was in a playful mood. Bored with reciting his now familiar answers, he shifted to tasteless jokes, mansplaining and mocking. He repeated his main message for Kelly about a dozen times for emphasis: "This has to stop at some point."
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WNU Editor: I mentioned yesterday that it was probably a mistake to choose Megyn Kelly for Russian President Putin to deliver his message to his adversaries in the West .... to begin .... Megyn Kelly is all about Megyn Kelly .... Russian President Putin Meets Megyn Kelly (June 2, 2017). Her interview with President Putin will be broadcast on Sunday on NBC at 19:00 EST. Not surprising .... the focus is now on how she dresses .... Megyn Kelly Sports Off-the-Shoulder Velvet Dress to Interview Vladimir Putin: Pics (ET Online).
