'Embarrassed' Megyn Kelly Torches Former Network Fox News Over Trump's Nicolás Maduro Capture Operation Coverage — 'It Was Like Watching Russian Propaganda'
Megyn Kelly ripped her former employer for 'cheerleaing' Nicolás Maduro's arrest.
Jan. 6 2026, Published 1:20 p.m. ET
Megyn Kelly lit into her former employer, Fox News, over its "rah-rah" coverage of the extrication and arrest of narco-terrorist Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro, RadarOnline.com can reveal.
While confessing she still "believes" in President Donald Trump, Kelly, 50, said watching her former network's "cheerleading" coverage of Maduro's arrest was like watching "Russian propaganda" while kicking off her SiriusXM show on Tuesday, January 6.
'Like Watching Russian Propaganda'
Kelly likened Fox News' one-sided coverage of the Maduro arrest to 'Russian propaganda.'
"I really think this is something we need to consider both sides on. I really do," Kelly said about the January 3 raid by U.S. Delta Forces in Caracas that took Maduro and his wife into custody after he was indicted back in 2020 for narco-terrorism, conspiracy to import cocaine, and weapons charges.
"When I was at Fox News, which was a long time, 14 years, I would have known exactly what to do in the wake of Trump's attack in Venezuela, his retrieval, shall we say, to put it in mild terms, of Nicolás Maduro," she continued, seeming somewhat critical about the methods used in the dictator's arrest.
"I would have known that I was supposed to cheerlead it. And I turned on Fox News yesterday, and I'm sorry, but it was like watching Russian propaganda. There was nothing skeptical. It was all rah rah cheerleading."
On 'Being Embarrassed' As a Fox News Anchor Previously
Donald Trump was flanked by Secretary of State Marco Rubio when detailing the arrest of Maduro to reporters.
Kelly used a traffic light analogy to say how caution needs to be involved when toppling another country's leadership, even though Maduro was not recognized by the U.S. and other Western nations as a legitimate president after overwhelmingly losing a democratic election and securing his dictatorship through the military.
"I love our military as much as anyone. And I believe in President Trump. But there are serious reasons to just exercise a note of caution before we just get on the rah rah train," the former NBC personality explained.
"I have done that enough times in my career as a Fox News anchor to have been embarrassed enough to know I'm going to stay on the yellow light for this. I'm not in the green light territory. I'm not in the red light territory either, but I am staying in the yellow light territory for now," Kelly cautioned.
'The Real Argument' Is Over Venezuela's Oil
Kelly said she saw the 'strategic advantages' in the U.S. arresting Maduro.
Kelly said she did "see all of the strategic advantages" to what Trump did with Maduro's arrest. But she called out the administration's claims that he needed to be removed due to running a narco state, pumping drugs into the U.S., resulting in the deaths of thousands of Americans.
"Trust me, I do. I see that other countries like Russia, China, and Cuba were all over Venezuela and its oil, posing a potential threat to the United States. I get that. That's actually the most persuasive argument and obviously the real one, and none of this b------ about law enforcement," the MAGA darling scoffed.
'Not Joining the Fox News Cheerleading Brigade This Time'
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Kelly warned against the U.S. getting into another 'quagmire' abroad.
Kelly cautioned about blind support by the right when it came to military action abroad, citing the disastrous invasion of Iraq in 2003 under President George W. Bush.
"I have seen what happens when you cheerlead unabashedly U.S. intervention in foreign countries thinking it's for our good and for the national and international good, only to wind up with what we've called quagmire in places like Iraq, not to mention Libya."
She continued, "We're not great at going into these foreign countries, decapitating them at the leadership level, and then saying either we're going to steer the country to a better place or it's going to steer itself. Either one, they they they just nine times out of 10, they don't work out well," referring to how Maduro's Vice President, Delcy Rodriguez, is now the interim leader of Venezuela.
"I'm staying in yellow territory until we know more, and I will not be joining the Fox News cheerleading brigade this time. I've been burned too many times," Kelly concluded.
