'What in the hell?': CNN slams Megyn Kelly over her 'completely ignorant' Epstein rant

NEW YORK CITY, NEW YORK: CNN host Laura Coates and Democratic analyst Karen Finney slammed Megyn Kelly for her bizarre rant in which she said Jeffrey Epstein was "not a pedophile."

Kelly went viral over a two-minute segment during which she argued that the disgraced financier was not what everyone was calling him, and expanded on what an unnamed confidant told her.

Laura Coates and Karen Finney condemn Megyn Kelly's problematic definition

CNN aired a clip of Megyn Kelly on Thursday, November 14, where she said that Jeffrey Epstein preyed on the "barely-legal type," like "15-year-old girls," and she added that she felt such crimes were not as disgusting as those perpetrated against elementary-aged children.

During the podcast, the conservative commentator said, "This is this person’s view, who was there for a lot of this. But that he was into the barely legal type... like he liked 15-year-old girls."

"I don’t know what’s true about him, but we have yet to see anybody come forward and say, I was a — like a — I was under 10, I was under 14 — when I first came within his purview. I — look, it’s — you can say that’s a distinction without a difference," she added. "I think there is a difference. There’s a difference between a 15-year-old and a five-year-old."

She also aimed at Epstein and said, "You know, it’s just — whatever. It’s sick. Every time we start talking about Epstein, it makes your skin crawl, right? The whole thing is just disgusting."

The podcast clip was played on Thursday's edition of 'Laura Coates Live', and after it ended, Coates said, "What in the hell? You had to be under 10 to be preyed upon by a grown man? No, that’s not the definition at all!" 

Taking a jab at Kelly, Finney said, "You know, at best, it was just a completely stupid, ignorant thing to say from somebody who knows nothing about any of it, like doesn’t understand having worked with survivors, how they — you know, how they groom people, how they go after people."

"But it also, at worst, sounded like, despite the protestation, like creating some kind of permission structure. Oh, it’s okay, because they weren’t under 10. I mean, I — if you’ve seen some of the — I think when we look at these young women now, they’re women, but they were girls when this happened. One of them had braces, for God’s sakes, when she was first being courted by Ghislaine Maxwell," she added.

'The Daily Show' host Josh Johnson slams Megyn Kelly

Laura Coates and Karen Finney were not the only ones who slammed Megyn Kelly for her insensitive statement. In the latest episode of 'The Daily Show', host Josh Johnson also slammed Kelly’s shocking statements regarding Epstein.

Johnson framed Kelly's argument as deeply troubling and asked, "How the hell was Megyn Kelly ever an attorney?" He added, "Your honor, my client only engaged in diet pedophilia."

He told Kelly, "Ma’am, everyone knows there’s a big difference between a 15-year-old and a five-year-old. But everyone also knows there is never a good reason to be talking about that difference." 

Moreover, Johnson showed viewers an email where Epstein described an incident where President Donald Trump was so distracted by the young women at his home that he crashed nose-first into a glass door.

The comedian further showed the emails where the disgraced financier wrote that Trump was "evil", a "maniac", and someone with signs of "early dementia."

"This is one of the many reasons being friends with a pedophile is a lose-lose situation. Because as a character witness, if they’re like, ‘This guy’s disgusting and I’m a pedophile,’ that’s bad. But on the flip side, if they’re like, ‘Yeah, I know him, he’s a pretty good hang,’ that’s also horrible," Johnson said.