Fox News' Kelly asked whether Michelle Obama gave "her critics fodder" with word she didn't say

Summary: Fox News' Megyn Kelly noted that during her DNC speech Michelle Obama said, "The world as it is just won't do," and then Kelly continued: "If you replace 'world' with 'country', you are back to the same debate, arguably, that you have been having about Michelle Obama's feelings about the country. Did she give her critics any fodder with that comment?"

During Fox News' August 25 coverage of the Democratic National Convention, anchor Megyn Kelly asked Fox News contributor Howard Wolfson about Michelle Obama's convention speech, "Do you think that, you know, her saying that she loves America, that she loves this country, is going to do it for those who questioned her patriotism?" Kelly noted that during the speech Obama stated, "The world as it is just won't do," then Kelly said: "If you replace 'world' with 'country', you are back to the same debate, arguably, that you have been having about Michelle Obama's feelings about the country. Did she give her critics any fodder with that comment?"

As Media Matters for America has noted, during Fox News' coverage prior to Obama's speech, Kelly referred to "all sorts of rumors about Michelle Obama, and controversy around her ... including what was her college thesis about; did she use the term 'whitey' -- something that was never substantiated," without noting the role Fox News has played in advancing those "rumors."

From Fox News' August 25 coverage of the Democratic National Convention:

KELLY: Now let me ask you, because you heard Chris Wallace say it may have been a wasted night, and apparently James Carville did him one better, saying moments ago -- this is according to the RNC, which is reporting from another network -- saying James Carville said, quote, "If this party has a message, it's done a hell of a job hiding it tonight. I promise you that."

WOLFSON: Well, I disagree with James. I think that there was a lot of business that needed to be accomplished here, and I think that humanizing the Obamas, that showing her patriotism, pushing back on this attack on her that she's not patriotic, and rooting them in America's middle class, that was all important pieces of business that the Obama campaign had to get done, and they did do it.

KELLY: Do you think that, you know, her saying that she loves America, that she loves this country, is going to do it for those who questioned her patriotism? Because she said something -- what she said was, and I wrote it down, was, "The world as it is just won't do." If you replace "world" with "country," you're back to the same debate, arguably, that you have been having about Michelle Obama's feelings about this country. Did she give her critics any fodder with that comment?

WOLFSON: No, I don't think so. And I think that she would persuade some people who were skeptical about whether or not she was patriotic, sufficiently patriotic, with the kind of speech that she gave tonight.

—J.H.