The Megyn Kelly Show — Ep. 1205 (December 3, 2025)

Title: Fani Willis Trump Case Done, COVID Bombshell, and Attacker Caught, with Chamath Palihapitiya, Dave Aronberg, Phil Holloway, and NYU Students

Overview

This episode of The Megyn Kelly Show delivers a packed agenda focusing on pivotal political, legal, and cultural issues: the Republican slump in a Tennessee special election, how economic pain is shaping the 2024 election landscape, bombshell revelations about the COVID vaccine's impact on children, the official collapse of Fani Willis's Trump prosecution, a high-profile media misstep in the January 6th pipe bomber investigation, celebrity legal drama, and a gripping, redemptive story of social media solving a violent New York assault. Megyn’s panel of guests include Chamath Palihapitiya (All In Podcast/CEO Social Capital), legal analysts Dave Aronberg and Phil Holloway, plus insights and testimonies from two NYU students recently assaulted in New York.

Key Segments & Discussion Points

Republican Weakness in Tennessee Special Election

[01:13–13:37]

Megyn Kelly opens the show highlighting an unexpectedly close GOP win in a solidly Republican district (Trump previously won by 22 points; now the margin is 9 or 10). She asks: “Why are the Republicans only winning it by nine points?...The Democrat candidate was a complete loon. That's a problem.” (02:09)

Key Insights:

• Chamath Palihapitiya: Breaks down the shrinking Republican margins as a result of economic pain, warning the Trump camp needs to honestly confront “the $2,000 hole” in the average family's finances (leftover from inflation under Biden), and “earn back” voter trust by targeting:

  • Healthcare for retirees;
  • Cost-of-living for middle-aged/middle-income families;
  • Student loans and economic opportunity for young voters.

  “The perception that people have is just that negative $2,000...you have to have programs that touch each of these three areas and that is probably the path forward.” (05:59)

• Megyn & Chamath: Stress the political impact of persistent economic concerns, soaring college tuition, and the mismatch between educational costs and job outcomes.

Student Debt & Higher Education Economics

[11:11–18:40]

• Chamath: Argues federal student loans should be risk-weighted by earning potential and “the private market would bring discipline and clarity.”

  “It doesn't make any logical sense that somebody chasing an 8 year PhD in Art History [gets] the same economic opportunities as somebody chasing a four year degree in biochemistry.” (12:47)

• Megyn: Shares personal anecdotes about law school tuition hikes matching loan increases, and slams the government’s role in enabling universities’ price-gouging.

Notable Quote:

“If you gave these educational degrees into the hands of institutions that would have to pay for it, you would very quickly see them figure out what the ability...would be to pay it. You would get that answer within a year.” - Chamath (18:38)

Silicon Valley Philanthropy & The "Great Reset" Narrative

[19:09–28:32]

• Megyn plays viral audio from Nicole Shanahan, who alleges that “tech mafia wives” have been mobilized as unwitting footsoldiers for the “Great Reset” via philanthropic efforts more about their own self-worth than real impact.

  “The whole model is broken. The whole model makes everybody worse off. Social justice and climate change, it always boils down to those two things and it gets progressive women 100% of the time.” - Nicole Shanahan (20:25)

• Chamath & Megyn: Discuss how wealthy, high-powered women often lack purpose, get sucked into “Davos culture,” and end up perpetuating “toxic empathy” and woke messaging.
  • Megyn: “Women who are bored are dangerous.” (31:22)

Notable Exchange:

“I would rather they get a job at the damn supermarket. Just do something that genuinely requires you for eight hours a day...That is meaningless. And actually, it’s worse than meaningless. It’s harmful.” - Megyn Kelly (25:10)

Toxic Empathy, Women & Political Manipulation

[28:32–31:22]

• Megyn: Explores how progressives leverage women’s natural empathy (“toxic empathy”) to push leftwing narratives – from DEI to trans rights to constitutional interpretation – and how “bored women” are fueling these trends.

  “Women are genetically prone to it...and these leftist professors and teachers know it, the systems know it, they take advantage of it. And I think we need a little bit more testosterone running through our veins.” (29:58)

COVID “Black Box Warning” Bombshell

[31:22–47:01]

• Megyn: Breaks exclusive reporting (via Alex Berenson) that the FDA may place a black box warning—the most severe—on mRNA Covid vaccines for kids/teens after confirming at least 10 child deaths linked to vaccination and suggesting the true number is higher.

  “This is an outrage...This was forced on us. Every school, including my own, they were expelling boys who would not take the vaccine once they hit 16...This is downright dangerous.” (33:45)

• Chamath: Contextualizes the COVID era as “the most important historical moment of the last 50 years,” sharply criticizes government censorship, suppression of dissenting medical views, the economic fragility exposed by global supply chain dependencies, and the social/educational trauma to children.

  “The lack of free speech in democracy, the lack of resiliency in the United States economy...and then the impact on our kids...all of that needs to get put on display...” (35:14)

• Media Complicity: Megyn relives the backlash she faced in 2022 for warning about vaccine risks and calls out outlets (Daily Beast, The Hill, Kara Swisher) who smeared her, demanding accountability.

  “Daily Beast. You fucking got kids killed. You got kids killed. I saved lives.” (44:08)

The Future of Free Speech & Independent Media

[47:01–50:46]

• Chamath: Calls for economic independence for independent media, warning that Big Tech platforms could always restrict voices like Megyn’s or his own.

  “We have to become economically viable to be independent forever...so that even if all of those places...don’t like what you’re saying, you can...start broadcasting your own thoughts independent of everybody else.” (47:54)

Kelly’s Court: Collapse of the Fani Willis/Georgia Trump Prosecution

[53:30–65:50]

• Megyn & Legal Panel: Recount the fall of Fani Willis’s Trump prosecution in Georgia, spotlighting how her “romantic relationship” with the lead prosecutor destroyed the case.

  “She couldn’t keep it in her pants. It was discovered she had a romantic relationship with the special prosecutor...Sorry, but we were the truth tellers. We knew Fannie Willis was in trouble and we owned the coverage...” (53:30–56:00)

• Dave Aronberg & Phil Holloway (Legal Analysts): Analyze why the dismissal is definitive, the legal aftershocks for those who pled out (Sidney Powell, Jenna Ellis), and how Georgia’s “null process” works.

  “It’s over. It’s not coming back. There will be no re-indictment...as far as the ones that have pled guilty...a card laid is a card played.” - Phil Holloway (64:33)

January 6th Pipe Bomber: The Blaze's Reporting Crisis

[65:50–77:04]

• Megyn: Recaps The Blaze’s risky publication naming a former Capitol Police officer as the Jan. 6 pipe bomber based on “gait analysis” and an unverified memo, only for other reporters (CBS) to prove her alibi.
• Legal Experts: Both attorneys warn The Blaze faces a likely massive defamation lawsuit.

  “She’s not a public figure, so it’s a much lower burden...you have all this stuff that leads to a potentially massive, massive defamation lawsuit.” - Dave Aronberg (73:52)

Celebrity Lawsuit: Will & Jada Pinkett Smith Accuser

[77:04–87:38]

• Megyn: Details lawsuit by Bilal Salaam against Will & Jada Pinkett Smith for “intentional infliction of emotional distress” linked to salacious allegations—and how the pro se (self-represented) claim is almost certainly groundless.

• Legal Panel: Explain such cases are usually dismissed; no rational lawyer would file them.

  “Intentional infliction is a bullshit claim in my view and in many courts view, unless it's paired with a serious physical injury...Sorry, Bailal Salaam.” - Megyn Kelly (79:22)

NYU Student Assault: How Social Media Solved a Real Crime

[93:51–121:50]

The Story

• Megyn: Introduces two NYU students, Amelia Lewis (victim) and Summer Armstrong (her friend and camera footage seeker). Amelia was assaulted walking to class; Summer obtained vital security footage.
• Social Media Mobilization: Megan posts the video on X (Twitter), tags NYPD and high-profile connections. With the video going viral, police quickly arrest repeat offender James Rizzo.

  “The ex army went to work. I tagged the NYPD and the NYPD police chief and then some other people I know who are very connected to NYPD retweeted it...And guess what? Police confirmed...the arrest of 45-year-old James Rizzo...” (93:51–95:13)

Firsthand Accounts

• Amelia: Details the shock and fear:

  “I was crossing the street, walking up south of Broadway...I felt an extremely painful and hard whack to my butt. And then...he proceeded to grab my hair and violently and forcefully throw me to the ground.” (96:36–97:06)

  • Emphasizes the frequency of attacks on women in NYC, the importance of awareness, and the power of using her voice.
• Summer: Explains her own previous assault, her decision to proactively seek CCTV footage for Amelia, and the broader need for women to support each other when authorities are slow to act.

  “I think as women we are told this always happens. But what the narrative needs to be is this always happens and there’s something done about it.” (107:59)

• Megyn: Highlights the systemic failures—DA leniency, cashless bail, and the revolving door for repeat offenders—while commending the girls for their bravery and initiative.

Notable Quotes

• On Republican strategy:

  “You have to have programs that touch each of these three areas [retiree healthcare, middle class cost-of-living, and student debt]...” – Chamath Palihapitiya (05:59)

• On elite philanthropy:

  “Find something that... requires you to use your brain. That requires you to take risk, hire people, evaluate situations and make judgment calls. Fail, succeed, stand up on your own two feet, be your own individual person and not just your husband's wife.” – Megyn Kelly (25:10)

• On COVID censorship:

  “We did not allow robust thinking and dissenting voices during that period...That is extremely dangerous in a democracy.” – Chamath Palihapitiya (34:02)

• On media’s COVID failures:

  “Daily Beast. You fucking got kids killed. You got kids killed. I saved lives. This show saved lives without question.” – Megyn Kelly (44:08)

• On crime, women’s safety, and city leadership:

  “This is what shatters a society. There has to be a basic covenant. You go off to college, even if it's in a city. You can just get from A to B without being in a dark alley, without doing a drug deal. Right. Just living your life as a normal, law abiding citizen that you can make it from A to B safely.” – Megyn Kelly (111:06)

Important Timestamps

• 01:13 – Megyn sets up Tennessee special election surprise
• 03:58 – Chamath’s economic analysis for GOP
• 11:11 – The real student debt crisis
• 19:18 – Nicole Shanahan’s viral “tech wives” clip
• 28:38 – “Toxic empathy” and women’s political impact
• 31:45 – COVID vaccine black box bombshell
• 35:14 – Chamath’s 3 lessons of the COVID era
• 44:08 – Megyn relives media backlash over vax warnings
• 47:54 – The need for economically independent media
• 53:30 – Fani Willis case collapse analyzed
• 65:50 – J6 pipe bomber reporting error/defamation risk
• 77:04 – Will & Jada Pinkett Smith’s accuser’s lawsuit breakdown
• 93:51 – Social media helps solve NYU student assault
• 96:36 – Amelia Lewis recounts her attack
• 107:59 – “We are told this always happens…” – Summer Armstrong
• 111:06 – Megyn: system failure & the importance of girls supporting girls

Final Thoughts

This episode typifies Megyn Kelly’s combative, candid style—mixing high-level political analysis and hard-hitting legal take-downs with passionate commentary and impactful, real-life stories from the frontlines of America’s social struggles. The interview with the NYU students functions as both indictment and hopeful note—underscoring the broken promises of urban leadership but the redemptive power of solidarity and social media vigilance. The show exposes faultlines in both political parties, legacy media, and criminal justice, while championing independent voices and the necessity of personal action and honest, fearless debate.