Megyn Kelly argues Barack Obama normalized tactics now used against Donald Trump

WASHINGTON, DC: Conservative commentator Megyn Kelly pushed back against criticism of President Donald Trump over a controversial government ‘weaponization’ compensation fund, saying that former President Barack Obama normalized similar conduct years ago but faced far less media scrutiny.

Kelly made the comments while discussing criticism surrounding Trump’s proposal to create a government compensation fund for individuals he says were targeted by politically motivated investigations and prosecutions.

Megyn Kelly says Obama changed political norms before Trump

During the discussion, Kelly argued that critics and media outlets ignored similar shifts in political norms under Obama but reacted far more aggressively once Trump adopted comparable approaches.

“But this was created by Barack Obama. Barack Obama is the one who started the practice of having his DOJ go after these big corporate interests and then extracting a settlement that they then had to pay.”

Kelly specifically addressed criticism surrounding Trump’s proposed compensation structure tied to victims of alleged “lawfare,” a term increasingly used by Trump allies to describe politically motivated legal actions.

“Like so much of the stuff that Trump does that's controversial that we may or may not love. It started with Barack Obama, and the same media that's now ripping Trump to shreds for doing it said nothing, nothing.”

“So Trump says, you know, you don’t have to pay me directly, although it is still a possibility that the Trumps could file for redress in this fund because they have been the victims of lawfare,” Kelly said.

“But what he said is, I want you to use the money for remuneration of people who have been the victims of lawfare,” she continued.

Obama comparison fuels debate over media treatment of Trump

Kelly’s remarks tapped into a broader political debate over whether Trump receives harsher scrutiny than Democratic presidents for similar exercises of executive authority and government power.

“When Barack Obama started it and was the one to cross the norm and create the new normal where our government officials do this to us.”

“So I really have no tolerance for their cries and protestations about what Trump is doing that, unlike those other bullshit things Obama did, actually do have the chance of helping someone who's actually been hurt.”

Kelly also referenced the structure of the proposal itself, noting that Trump said a five-person board appointed by Attorney General Todd Blanche would oversee the process while the president would still retain broader oversight authority.

“And we’re going to appoint a five-person board that Todd Blanche is going to appoint. But I get to oversee. I, the president,” Kelly quoted while describing Trump’s remarks.

Supporters of Trump have increasingly argued that many actions now portrayed as unprecedented under Trump were first normalized during previous administrations, particularly under Obama.

The comparison also widened the conversation beyond the compensation fund itself by turning attention toward long-running accusations of unequal media treatment between Obama and Trump.