Megyn, Calm Down!': Megyn Kelly Clashes With Al Sharpton Over Ferguson Shooting and Why Sharpton Hasn't Apologized

Fox News host Megyn Kelly and civil rights leader Al Sharpton got into a heated clash over the fatal 2014 shooting of 18-year-old Michael Brown, with Kelly pressing Sharpton over past statements she said he made alleging that Officer Darren Wilson didn't shoot Brown in self-defense.

"You came out publicly and said that it was not in self-defense, that there was no deadly threat to Officer Darren Wilson," Kelly said, stating that the Department of Justice's investigation found that there was no reason to doubt Wilson's claims. "Do you feel bad about what you said?"

Sharpton responded by telling Kelly not to "distort what the DOJ said," explaining his belief that the law enforcement body simply didn't find evidence to bring up Wilson on civil rights charges. Kelly, though, wasn't willing to back down and said that the DOJ specifically said that there was no evidence that would call into question Wilson's claim that he had feared for his life before shooting Brown.

"If the DOJ said that, then it is contrary to what eyewitnesses and others [had said]," Sharpton said. "When we talked to the witnesses and put them on my television show, they told us what they saw."

Kelly, though, argued that the DOJ had the chance to speak with all of the witnesses, not just some of them and indicated that the DOJ likely had a broader picture of what had unfolded between Wilson and Brown, repeatedly pressing Sharpton on why he didn't apologize for his claim.

"I stated what I believe. You get on TV every night and state what you believe," Sharpton said, to which Kelly replied that she does not, adding, "You're an opinion guy. I'm a journalist."

Watch the heated exchange below:

He continued to argue that he was merely stating his opinion at the time, and declined to apologize or retract any of his statements.

"But when your opinion is proven to be wrong by the Department of Justice ... and a man's life is ruined — Darren Wilson has no job, he has no life ... do you bear some responsibility?" Kelly asked. "When the DOJ comes back to you and says that you're wrong, why don't you apologize?"

At one point during the exchange, Sharpton said, "Megyn calm down" — a proclamation that the Fox News host clearly didn't appreciate.

Earlier in the interview, the two also discussed whether Sharpton would make any endorsements this election cycle, whether it's possible for Republican presidential Donald Trump to secure the black vote and how successful President Barack Obama has been.

"I think Barack Obama did a lot more than people gave him credit," Sharpton said. "He cut black unemployment in half. He was able to begin the process of letting people out of jail that started becoming, in my opinion, wrongly incarcerated under the crime bill."

(H/T: Mediaite)

--

Follow the author of this story on Twitter and Facebook:

Follow @BillyHallowell