Megyn Kelly makes dire prediction about Trump's decision to potentially pardon Diddy
The former Fox News star made the dire prediction on Wednesday while reacting to reports that Trump is 'strongly considering' pardoning the hip hop mogul over a conviction on prostitution charges.
Kelly 'urged' Trump not to even consider such an action, arguing it would be disastrous as the president continues to face backlash from his base over his decision not to release an alleged list of late financier Jeffrey Epstein 's clients.
The Epstein decision, Kelly said, made 'it look to the MAGA base like [Trump's] part of the elite cabal. And they don't like that. They elected Trump because he promised not to be one of them.'
Pardoning Diddy 'would not help' Trump shake that reputation, 'not at all,' she continued, arguing the case against the rapper is 'the same thing.'
'There's already people thinking that there's a cover-up here,' Kelly said, insinuating other famous celebrities were 'being provided access to young women and drugs' at Diddy's infamous freak-off parties.
If the president were to now pardon him, Kelly argued, it could be detrimental to the Republican Party - which she said is already losing support from female voters.
'It's telling all these young vulnerable women they don't count, they don't matter. That even the top Republican president will cover up any wrong doing when it comes to that type of a victim,' she said.
Reports emerged Tuesday that the president is 'strongly considering' pardoning the hip hop mogul over his prostitution charges
'It just cannot happen,' Kelly continued, noting that the Republican Party is already struggling to retain young female voters.
'And they're not all lefties,' she said. 'There are young conservative women who aren't in love with Trump or MAGA. And this will not help.'
Even without the political ramifications, Kelly said pardoning the I'll Be Missing You singer would be a 'miscarriage of justice.'
She said Diddy should 'serve time' because he 'admitted expressly' that he was a domestic abuser.
'He beat those women to a pulp and didn't even deny it,' Kelly said, incredulously.
'He got away with it. He was only found guilty on these two minor charges... let him at least serve the time on those.'
The 55-year-old mogul was acquitted on three of his most serious charges earlier this month, when he was found not guilty of sex-trafficking and racketeering.
Combs was only instead convicted on two counts of transportation to engage in prostitution, which could see him spend 10 years behind bars.
As the judge prepares his punishment for the former producer over prostitution charges, a source told Deadline that Trump has been mulling stepping in to offer reprieve.
Insiders told the outlet that the idea had advanced from 'just another Trump weave to an actionable event.'
Closed door discussions about a potential pardon reached fever pitch in May when Trump acknowledged Diddy's case with reporters.
While he admitted he hasn't paid close attention to the trial, Trump suggested he would be open to the idea of pardoning his one-time friend.
'I'd look at what's happening,' he said. 'I haven't seen him, I haven't spoken to him in years.
'He used to really like me a lot, but I think when I ran for politics he sort of, that relationship busted up from what I read. I don't know. He didn't tell me that, but I'd read some nasty statements in the paper all of a sudden.'
'So, I don't know. I would certainly look at the facts. if I think somebody was mistreated, whether they like me or don't like me it wouldn't have any impact,' he concluded.
Trump later addressed the case again in the Oval Office, and said: 'nobody's asked but I know people are thinking about it.'
'I know they're thinking about it. I think some people have been very close to asking,' he added.
Attorney John Koufos, who recently met with Trump's pardon 'tsar' Alice Marie Johnson and pardon attorney Ed Martin, now tells the Daily Mail elements of the case fit with Trump's push against 'overcriminalization' and 'weaponization' in charging.
The president had himself been charged with a racketeering conspiracy in the Georgia election interference case, and he has long railed against what he calls weaponization of the criminal justice system.
Analysts watching the Diddy case have previously questioned whether the government also overcharged the rapper, and Koufos wondered how the defendant could be engaging in a RICO conspiracy by themselves.
'Had he been convicted of a RICO [charge], you'd be looking at something different,' he argued, though he said there was 'nothing particularly sympathetic' about the defendant.
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