The Megyn Kelly Show — Episode 1165

Theme: Escalating Political Violence, Lawfare, and Media Double-Standards on the American Left

Date: October 6, 2025
Host: Megyn Kelly (SiriusXM)

Overview

In this episode, Megyn Kelly delivers a passionate, wide-ranging monologue on what she characterizes as a disturbing trend of escalating political violence, threats, and approval of violence from the American left—directed towards Republicans, law enforcement figures, and even Supreme Court justices. She details recent and past high-profile attacks (including the assassination of Charlie Kirk and shooting at Trump’s rally), violence and lawfare obstructing ICE, the weak sentencing of Kavanaugh’s attempted assassin, and newly revealed violent texts from Virginia Democratic AG candidate Jay Jones. Kelly argues these events are dismissed, minimized, or even tacitly endorsed by Democratic officials and major media, warning that these attitudes represent a dangerous “worldview” driving today’s political climate.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Media Double Standards and “Memory Holing” Republican Victims [02:20–05:40]

• Kelly begins with frustration over what she perceives as media indifference to Republicans suffering political violence, citing how names like David Dutch and Jim Copenhaver (injured at Trump’s rally) are forgotten.
  • “Truly, it’s because the media memory holes anything bad that happens to Republicans and God forbid they're shot in an act of political violence. Oh, hell yes, that's getting memory holed.” (05:05)
• She accuses left-leaning commentators (Joy Reid, Michael Steele, Keith Olbermann) of casting doubt on the reality of such events.

2. From Trump’s Near-Death to the Kirk Assassination — The Escalating Pattern [04:08–15:00]

• Kelly connects the 2024 Trump rally shooting and the assassination of Charlie Kirk 14 months later, suggesting these are part of a ramping cycle of political violence.
• She argues that security lapses and an “unprotected roof” enabled both attacks.

3. Violence Against ICE and Law Enforcement [15:00–45:00]

• Describes a “1,000% increase” in assaults on ICE officers in 2025 vs. 2024 (per DHS).

• Cites specific incidents of attacks on ICE and Border Patrol:

  • Portland: Officer hit by smoke grenade; equipment damaged; officers assaulted (19:50–22:10)
  • Dallas: Sniper attack with anti-ICE messages on bullet casings (22:11–23:00)
  • Alvarado, TX (July 4): 15-person ambush, fireworks, shooting, local cop wounded (23:10–23:35)
  • California: During ICE raid, gunfire (24:00–24:30)
  • Chicago / Broadview, IL: Mob physically blocks ICE van, shouts “Arrest ICE. Shoot ICE.” [35:30]
  • Assaults include cinder blocks, cars used to ram officers, doxing, knife threats, and bomb threats.

• Kelly highlights the lack of condemnation from top left political figures and the local government complicity/hostility toward ICE.

  “Smoke bombs in the stomach, having knives pulled on them, having guns fired at them, having cars ram them, having their families threatened, being called pigs and calls to shoot them...Ire, anger, outrage being stirred up against them by basically every Democrat in America...” (42:00)

• Host notes apparent refusal of some state offices (e.g., Illinois) to even allow ICE use of restrooms.

4. The Lawfare Component [45:00–60:00]

• Describes local officials (and Democrat-aligned judges) launching legal battles to block President Trump’s efforts to back up ICE with National Guard or federal assets, especially in blue states.

• References to ongoing showdown in Portland and Oregon; details how legal victories won by Biden (affirming federal primacy in immigration) are now “weaponized” against Trump’s crackdown.

  “So they want ICE twisting in the wind. They know they can’t kick ICE out, but they want them twisting in the wind with no backup and vulnerable to attacks, gunshots, etc.” (50:00)

• Cites statements from Stephen Miller elaborating on the constitutional right of the president to protect federal facilities and personnel.

5. Pattern of Rhetoric and Actual Violence — Kavanaugh’s Would-Be Assassin [1:08:00–1:20:00, 2:22:00–end]

• Kelly recounts the near-assassination of Justice Kavanaugh by Nicholas Roske, who planned to murder multiple conservative justices.

• Critiques the light sentence (eight years, likely serving as little as four), attributes it to judicial sympathy for Roske’s newly declared transgender identity (“Sophie”).

  • “He could have gone to jail for life. The feds wanted at least 30 years...he got eight years. Eight. With good behavior, he’s going to be out in four.” (1:16:00)
  • “She [Judge Boardman] loved having the excuse to let him out again in as little as four years with good behavior potentially.” (Approx. 2:35:00)

• Argues this type of leniency is only possible because the targets were conservatives.

  • “Do you think they’d be saying that if somebody did this in an opinion that was going to uphold Roe versus Wade… and then some right wing nut went out there plotting to murder Sotomayor...?”

6. The Jay Jones Scandal: Open Fantasies of Violence from a Democrat AG Candidate [1:20:00–1:45:00, 2:10:00–2:21:00]

• Details exclusive report (Audrey Fahlberg, National Review) revealing Jay Jones, Democratic nominee for Virginia Attorney General, sending private texts wishing death on Republican colleagues and their children.
  • Jones’s messages to Republican delegate Kerry Coiner:
    • “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler.”
    • Upon being rebuffed: “Only when people feel pain personally do they move on policy... I wish Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms...”
    • Doubles and triples down, calling the target’s children “little fascists.”
• Highlights the lack of serious calls from Democratic leadership for Jones to step down, and dismissals by party figures (e.g., “private texts… let’s not get distracted”).

“The most alarming of all the words in the Jay Jones text message scandal is ‘yes.’...Here Jones confirms his thoughts, then calmly explains their logic. ‘Yes’ is not a rash indiscretion or a lazy misstatement. It is a confirmation. Of what? Of a worldview.” (from Charles C.W. Cooke, National Review; quoted at 2:20:00)

7. Campus Censorship and Selective Outrage [2:38:00–2:41:00]

• NYU Law school attempts to block a talk by conservative scholar Ilya Shapiro, allegedly for “security reasons.”

• Bowdoin College cancels a public Charlie Kirk memorial vigil due to alleged external threats; school newspaper publishes article denigrating Kirk and labeling the vigil “meek white supremacy.”

  “So this is like a double Whammy for these leftist universities. So we get to hurt the Jews and conservatives in one fell swoop. Winner. Winner.” (2:39:00)

8. General Thesis and Recurring Motif: “Worldview” of the Left Embracing/Excusing Violence [Multiple Occurrences]

• Kelly insists what’s been revealed is not isolated incidents, but a “worldview”—a deliberate, ideological embrace of dehumanizing language, tolerance of violence, and political zealotry.
  • “It is a confirmation of a worldview. One that Donald Trump saw firsthand in July of 2024... One that these ICE agents are having to deal with every day. A worldview... zealots everywhere, supported by a dishonest media who eggs them on...”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On Forgotten Shooting Victims:

  “Why don’t we ever talk about them? Truly, it’s because the media memory holes anything bad that happens to Republicans…God forbid they're shot in an act of political violence.” (05:04)

• On Rhetoric from Leftist Media Figures

  “The left, like, literally, Joy Reid, Michael Steele... on camera, openly, Keith Olbermann, speculating didn't happen.” (06:43)

• On ICE Agents Attacked

  “DHS in August said that ICE agents have faced a 1000% increase in assaults over the 2024 totals.” (20:42)

• On Political Leaders’ Silence

  “Not one national Democrat calling for him to step aside. Not one. Disgraceful…I think it was a private conversation he had, but still awful and disgusting. We should condemn that. But then you should condemn when the president calls the Democratic Party the party of Satan.” — Neera Tanden, discussed at [1:31:00]

• On Jay Jones Texts

  “Three people, two bullets. Gilbert, Hitler and Pol Pot. Gilbert gets two bullets to the head. Spoiler put Gilbert in the crew with two worst the two worst people you know. And he receives both bullets every time.” — Jay Jones text (Approx. 2:11:00)

  “I wish Gilbert’s wife could watch her own child die in her arms so that Gilbert might reconsider his political views…” (2:13:00)

• On the Kavanaugh Would-Be Assassin Sentencing

  “He could have gone to jail for life. The feds wanted at least 30 years. Here he is right around the time that he committed the crime. He got eight years. Eight. With good behavior, he’s going to be out in four.” (1:16:45) “This woman, this Biden appointee, should be impeached. What she did is a complete dereliction.” (1:20:00)

• On Pattern of Zealotry

  “There are two types of bigots...On the other hand, you have people whose bigotry is the product of an earnestly held, well thought through ideological framework. These people terrify me…And it is zealots, not idiots, who tend to change the world for the worse.” — quoting Charles C.W. Cooke (2:21:50)

• On Judicial Overreach

  “A district court judge has no conceivable authority whatsoever to restrict the president and Commander in chief from dispatching members of the US Military to defend lives and property.” — Stephen Miller, quoted [1:07:00]

Timestamps for Major Segments

| Segment | Timestamp | |-----------------------------------------------------------------------------|---------------| | Forgotten Republican Shooting Victims, Butler PA & Charlie Kirk | 00:50–14:55 | | Escalation/Evidence of Leftwing Political Violence | 14:56–22:00 | | Attacks Against ICE Across US, Specific Incidents (Portland, Dallas, etc.) | 19:50–24:40 | | Protesters Attack ICE in Chicago/Broadview, Recorded Chants | 35:30 | | State and City Governments Block Assisting ICE Agents | 45:00–1:07:00 | | Legal Battles: National Guard, Federal Jurisdiction, Lawfare | 50:00–1:07:00 | | Kavanaugh Attempted Assassin: Lenient Sentencing, Judicial Activism | 1:08:00–1:20:00 & 2:22:00–end | | Jay Jones Violent Text Scandal: Details and Democratic Response | 1:20:00–1:45:00 & 2:10:00–2:21:00 | | Free Speech Suppression on Campus (NYU, Bowdoin) | 2:38:00–2:41:00 | | Final Reflections and Recap | End |

Tone and Language

• Tone: Direct, frustrated, passionate, indignant; combines reporting with personal commentary and sometimes sarcasm.
• Kelly freely uses strong language (“I’m sick of this shit”,”Fuck him”, "Go fuck yourself") to underscore her anger at perceived indifference and hypocrisy.
• Equates the tolerance of violent rhetoric (and, by extension, action) with an ingrained leftist “worldview”—not mere outliers.
• Often pauses to call out specific Democratic officials/media and their unwillingness to explicitly condemn violence or inflammatory language.

Key Takeaways

• Pattern of Escalating Leftwing Political Violence: From forgotten shooting victims at Trump rallies to recent attacks on Charlie Kirk and ICE, Kelly perceives a persistent, growing threat that is being underreported and insufficiently condemned.
• Media and Political Complicity: The mainstream media and Democratic leadership are, in her view, consistently downplaying, excusing, or ignoring leftwing violence and even violent rhetoric among their own.
• Judicial and Legal System Undermining Enforcement: Local governments and some judges—often in blue states—are accused of hindering law enforcement’s ability to address and defend against these threats, both legally and practically.
• Normalization of Violent Rhetoric: The Jay Jones text scandal serves as proof, in Kelly’s argument, of a more widespread, ideologically rooted embrace of violence as an acceptable means for political ends.
• Grave Concerns for Rule of Law: Kelly warns that the combination of violence, inflammatory rhetoric, lawfare against federal authority, and media double standards marks dangerous territory for American democracy.