Hours after the 114th Congress was sworn in Tuesday, Fox News’ Megyn Kelly took issue on “The Kelly File” with President Obama’s past claims regarding executive action on immigration, telling Rep. Luis Gutierrez Obama’s claims are “nonsense” and “bull.”
This issue, which is sure to rear its head throughout the new Congress, remains a hot topic for conservatives, such as conservative radio host Laura Ingraham, who Kelly had on her program before Gutierrez.
Kelly took the Chicago Democrat to task, telling him that while he personally has been “ideologically consistent” over the use of unilateral action on immigration, Obama has not. Kelly added that any claim Obama makes today is a misleading one.
“Do I challenge you about what you say about these families? No, I do not,” Kelly told Gutierrez. “But do I challenge you on this nonsense that President Obama, he said all along I would only do it — that’s bull. You know for six years he said he didn’t have the authority, and you know it because you were one of his biggest critics.”
“I knew all the time he had the authority,” said a pleading Gutierrez, who kept mistaking Kelly for Laura Ingraham. “I won that argument.”
“No, you didn’t!” Kelly responded.
“No? Then who won the argument?” the Illinois Democrat questioned.
“He never came out and said I was persuaded. He never said that,” Kelly shot back. “He came out and said, I never said I didn’t have the authority. That’s what he wanted us to believe.”
“Can I just say one thing? We argued with this administration for years on this specific issue,” Gutierrez continued. “And we said Mr. President, you have it, and he used it.”
“I know. You’ve been ideologically consistent,” Kelly conceded. “But Barack Obama has not been.”
Kelly told Gutierrez on five separate occasions that Obama had made a point of saying many times over the past six years that he was unable to take executive action on immigration.