Commentator and media personality Megyn Kelly found herself in hot water after posting a tweet mocking Senator Laphonza Butler following her speech at the Democratic National Convention, where she celebrated attending an HBCU.
In her speech, Senator Butler highlighted that both she and Vice President Kamala attended HBCUs. Harris attended Howard University, while Butler attended Jackson State University. Later that evening, Kelly took to her X account and tweeted, “Imagine the white person up there: I’m proud to tell you I went to a mostly white university!” Many people took to social media to share their thoughts on Kelly’s comments.
“Megyn Kelly presumably knows why historically black colleges and universities were formed in the United States. And why someone would be proud to have graduated from one,” commentator and frequent critic of former President Trump Bill Kristol replied on social media. “But what this tweet shows is how eager Trumpists now are to appeal to white grievance and white prejudice.”
“Nancy Mace: I can call a Black woman whatever I want to call her, describe grown Black men as boys, ignore America’s racial history, and still play the victim role, Megyn Kelly: Hold my white robe,” Keith Boykin, a former Democratic aide, wrote in reference to a recent segment on CNN during which Rep. Nancy Mace (R-S.C.) fought with panelists over how to pronounce Harris’s name.
“It’s almost as if there is some context you are eliding,” journalist Matt Yglesias replied on X.
During the Collective Political Action Committee brunch in Chicago, Senator Butler had a few words for Kelly and a tweet regarding HBCUs. Butler’s comments were shared via social media by Roland Martin and the Black Star Network.
“My sister sent me a screenshot of Megyn Kelly quoting my remarks from the DNC stage last night. Intending to ridicule the fact that I noted a thing that I have in common with the vice president, that we both graduated from historically Black colleges. Her ridicule was expressed by saying, What if white folks went up on stage and talked about how they graduated from white schools? That’s every other school! It is one of the things that I am most proud of as we seek to elect Vice President Harris to the office of presidency to highlight and uplift the contribution made by historically Black colleges across this country.”
