Megyn Kelly went to bat for the idea of income inequality, getting into a heated debate with fellow Fox News host Bill O’Reilly about whether the phenomena exists or not.
In the segment on The O’Reilly Factor , Kelly said that the gap in income between the rich and poor is growing wider in years, thanks largely to government policies. O’Reilly argued that this gap has always been part of American society and not a new thing.
“Listen, on the issue of income inequality, it’s a good issue for the Democrats because there is no question that it exists,” Kelly insisted.
“It’s always existed,” O’Reilly shot back.
“It’s worse now since 1920, according to the stats,” Kelly countered.
While Bill O’Reilly agreed that there was a gap between the rich and poor, he said the Democratic Party’s campaign on the phenomena is a myth. O’Reilly then accused Megyn Kelly of “buying into this fraud,” saying he was disappointed in his fellow Fox personality.
He also used Kelly’s own story as proof that people can come up from nothing and achieve anything in America, but Megyn wasn’t backing down.
“You can’t get out of this income inequality situation by saying it doesn’t exist,” Kelly replied.
The numbers would appear to back Megyn Kelly. A 2011 study by the non-partisan Congressional Budget Office found that the top 1 percent of households increased their income by 275 percent between 1979 and 2007, while the 60 percent of Americans in the middle class saw theirs raise just 60 percent.
Kelly is also right that income inequality has now grown to its largest point in the last 90 years. The gap between the wealthiest 1 percent and the remaining 99 percent has reached its highest point since 1920.
But many Americans still side with Bill O’Reilly and against Megyn Kelly on the idea of income inequality. A 2012 survey found that just 42 percent of Americans believe the income gap has grown worse in the last 10 years.