Megyn Kelly has criticized the rules of Thursday’s CNN debate between former President Donald Trump and President Biden, saying the structure is too overbearing toward the two contenders to lead the nation.
The former Fox News anchor and current SiriusXM talk show host told The Post she was particularly “irritated” by plans to cut the microphones of each candidate once they use up their allotted speaking time.
“I don’t know why this was necessary,” the “Megyn Kelly Show” host said.
“The under-the-breath comments, where one [candidate] shoots something at another, can be the most fun part of a debate. They don’t need to be treated like schoolchildren. Why are we behaving or pretending like they’re preschool children?”
Kelly, 53, suggested that the rules could “actually help” Trump by giving the moderators “an excuse to rein in his behavior” and stop him from turning in a performance similar to his first debate against Biden four years ago.
“I think they’re genuinely worried that Biden can’t handle it,” she added. “So his handlers have requested as many rules to try to keep it orderly as possible.”
Trump, 78, agreed to the debate last month after Biden’s team went public with an offer to stage showdowns outside the purview of the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, which has organized such forums since 1988.
In recent days, Trump’s campaign and allies have raised concerns about co-moderators Jake Tapper and Dana Bash, citing their remarks about the 45th president in the past.
“They treated Trump absolutely terribly, and they’re not fair when it comes to him,” Kelly said of CNN. “So I don’t think they should have been rewarded with this.”
“I think the moderators will try to be on their best behavior, because they don’t want to embarrass themselves, and they know they’re going to get hit if they’re too in the tank for Biden.”
Kelly also observed that Tapper, in particular, appears to be “playing very straight down the middle ever since he got named as a moderator.”
CNN has defended Tapper, 55, and Bash, 53, against an onslaught of criticism from the right, hailing them as “well-respected veteran journalists” and contending that “there are no two people better equipped to co-moderate” it.
While some have questioned why Trump would agree to take part in a debate with so many variables seemingly stacked against him, Kelly said the answer is simple.
“Trump just wants to debate,” she explained. “He definitely wants to debate Joe Biden. Who could blame him?
“It wasn’t about CNN — it was, ‘I’ll do whatever I have to do in order to make this happen.””
Kelly joined NewsNation anchor Elizabeth Vargas and Washington Free Beacon editor-in-chief Eliana Johnson this past December to moderate the fourth Republican primary debate, which Trump did not take part in.
If she were in charge of Thursday’s clash, Kelly said, she would ask Biden to revisit his claim from 2020 that The Post’s publication of documents from his son Hunter’s laptop was part of a “Russian plot” — now that information from the device was used to convict his son earlier this month on federal charges.
For Trump, Kelly added, she would seize on some of his more controversial off-the-cuff moments, such as his recent suggestion that college graduates who were born overseas should get an automatic green card.
Despite her issues with the rules of Thursday’s debate, Kelly said she was “thrilled” voters would see Biden and Trump go toe-to-toe once again.
“I think the American public deserves it,” she said, “and it could very well wind up being the only debate of the cycle, depending on how things go.”
Following Thursday’s debate, which starts at 9 p.m. ET and is scheduled to run 90 minutes, Kelly will host a special post-debate edition of her show, which will air on SiriusXM’s Triumph (channel 111) and the Megyn Kelly YouTube channel.
