Megyn Kelly Talks Post-Trump ‘Exposure’: ‘It’s Like, What Am I Doing Here?’ (Video)

The Fox News anchor tells Charlie Rose how being part of the story of the Donald Trump campaign has had its upside, and downside

Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly tells CBS’s Charlie Rose that some of the collateral benefit of sparring with GOP frontrunner Donald Trump has been a big boost to her professional exposure — even to the point of the reporter being part of the story.

In a free-wheeling interview with Rose on CBS’ “Sunday Morning,” Kelly discusses her family, her career and the unexpected perks of a high-profile life … like being the subject of a recent cover profile in Vanity Fair, which calls her “a newly minted role model for women and a conservative champion who transcends politics.”

For Kelly, host of Fox’s “The Kelly File,” such exposure is unexpected in ways she’s still grappling with. “It’s like what am I doing there? This is bizarre! I have confidence in my interviews, in my presentation, in my interactions with other people — no problem,” she told Rose. “But in terms of glamour and a beauty shot and a magazine? Fish out of water.”

The on-again, off-again war with Trump has had its benefits. “I certainly think it’s gotten me more exposure,” she tells Rose. “One of our babysitters is from Peru, and she came home one day and told us that she saw my name in the Peruvian papers. I don’t think that ever happened before this particular dust-up. So I’m going to have to give him that point.”

It’s had its downside as well. Trump verbally attacked her after the first GOP primary debate, in August, and he’s since taken to Bill O’Reilly‘s “O’Reilly Factor,” and to Twitter, to attack her journalistic credibility.

Kelly tells Rose that she expected O’Reilly, her Fox colleague, to be more aggressive in defending her. “I would have defended him more,” Kelly says. “What can I say? It was a dark moment.”

Kelly also gave Rose her vision of a typical Kelly viewer. “The viewer I picture in my mind when I do ‘The Kelly File’ is a woman who’s had a long day either with the kids or at work or both,” she said.

“She sits down, she gets her glass of chardonnay,” Kelly said. “She wants to consume the news effortlessly, enjoy it, and not have to work too hard for it, but turn off the television at the end, understanding she knows what the news of the day is.”

“Sunday Morning” airs on CBS Sundays at 9 a.m. ET/6 a.m. PT

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