Megyn Kelly and Charlie Kirk continued to break down the controversy surrounding Sydney Sweeney’s American Eagle jeans campaign on Wednesday’s “The Megyn Kelly Show,” this time slamming liberal media for “gaslighting” them to think blowback to the ad is thanks to MAGA.
While they point to recent dissenting reports from the likes of “Pod Save America” that criticizes right-wing pundits and news organizations like Fox News for focusing too much on the “good jeans” ad, Kirk asserted that outcry over the ad began on the left.
“To compare a Sydney Sweeney ad for 20 minutes to Goebbels and Hitler and eugenics — I mean, that’s really dark stuff,” Kirk said. “And then for them to gaslight us that, you know, that littel dwarf on ‘Pod Save America’ that you were getting in a debate with, he was like, ‘Oh, no one was saying that.’ Well, hold on. ABC News’ ‘Good Morning America’ platformed a ‘subject matter expert’ for a pretty long interview by morning show time — you know morning show time is precious, Megyn. And she’s going on about how this is eugenics and a return to Nazism. And then they gaslight us against it for even saying that this became a major issue. They’re literally trying to gaslight us in real time.”
Kelly then pulled up a clip of the segment, which featured Kean University professor Robin Landa, who explained why Sweeney’s ad garnered so much controversy, saying that the historical use of eugenics “weaponized the idea of good genes to justify white supremacism.”
Watch the “Megyn Kelly Show” segment below:
“Unbelievable,” Kelly said once the clip ended. But she wasn’t finished with her examples. She then mentioned the Rolling Stone report, who she said blamed Fox News for overly covering the drama surrounding the actress’ ad. She noted that Rolling Stone wrote that “no prominent Democratic lawmakers have weighed in on the situation.”
“That’s the new test, you see,” Kelly said. “Not withstanding all that whole laundry list I went though, the test is whether we’ve seen Joe Biden say something about it.”
“Or whether Chuck Schumer gave a Senate floor speech about the Sydney Sweeney ad,” Kirk chimed in. “That’s the threshold of whether or not this is a big deal or not? Sorry, we actually understand culture guys.”
Kirk went on to point out how he feels liberal media, specifically ABC News, directly attacked the white population in the U.S. by prefacing their report on the Sweeney by mentioning her traditionally white genetic features.
“If it was a Hispanic person that says, ‘I have good jeans’ — OK, fine. But now, because of that, you’re trying to shame an entire part of the American population … If you want to talk about who’s actually pushing forward pseudo-like race politics, it’s them. We don’t look at that ad and think of race at all.”
Kelly came back in to mention that the ad was likely applauding Sydney’s “breasts” as her good genes.
“A hundred percent,” Kirk said. “She’s got good genes because she doesn’t have to go to plastic surgery where other women would have to.”
“Yeah, she’s got a rockin’ body,” Kelly.
Kelly and Kirk are the latest to weigh in on the Sweeney-American Eagle drama. The American Eagle described its campaign as a “return to essential denim dressing.” It showcases Sweeney in a blue, denim jacket and pants set, all of which are part of her collection The Sydney Jean.
The issue at hand isn’t the actress’ jeans, but rather her script. Her lines read: “genes are passed down from parents to offspring, often determining traits like hair color, personality and even eye color. My jeans are blue.”
Some felt that the campaign promotion of “great jeans” while highlighting a person who has blond hair and blue eyes, encouraged the idea of eugenics, the belief and practice of attempting to improve the human race through selective breeding of certain populations of people, which has been historically used in the U.S. to target marginalized communities, including people of color, people with disabilities and the less financial fortunate.
On Friday, American Eagle posted a statement rejecting the idea that their ad was racially charged.
“‘Sydney Sweeney Has Great Jeans’ is and always was about the jeans. Her jeans. Her story,” the message wrote. “We’ll continue to celebrate how everyone wears their AE jeans with confidence, their way. Great jeans look good on everyone.”
