WATCH: Megyn Kelly And Newt Gingrich Spar Over 'Sexual Predators'

By Brian Naylor / NPR

Published October 26, 2016 at 3:26 AM PDT

This story was published more than 8 years ago.

Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich delivers a speech during the Republican National Convention on July 20, 2016 in Cleveland.

In a political season full of "did they really go there?" moments, there was another last night on the Fox News Channel. Host Megyn Kelly, a past target of Donald Trump's tweets, was interviewing former House speaker, now Trump surrogate, Newt Gingrich.

Gingrich expressed his ire over the amount of time the news media have devoted to coverage of the women who have accused Trump of making unwanted sexual advances, compared with coverage of Hillary Clinton's speech leaked to WikiLeaks in which she talks about open borders.

You can watch the ensuing exchange here:

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"You are fascinated with sex, and you don't care about public policy," Gingrich said.

Kelly replied, "Me, really?"

Gingrich: "That's what I get out of watching you tonight."

Kelly: "You know what, Mr. Speaker? I'm not fascinated by sex, but I am fascinated by the protection of women and understanding what we're getting in the oval office ... "

Gingrich then brought up former President Bill Clinton, saying he will be "back in the East Wing [of the White House], because, after all, you are worried about sexual predators," an apparent reference to Clinton's affair with intern Monica Lewinsky, which led to impeachment charges against Clinton while Gingrich was speaker.

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Gingrich challenged Kelly. "I just want to hear you use the words 'Bill Clinton, sexual predator.' I dare you. Say 'Bill Clinton, sexual predator.' "

Kelly responded that her program had covered allegations against the former president, before adding that "he's not on the ticket."

Kelly then noted that the program was running out of time. "We're going to have to leave it at that, and you can take your anger issues and spend some time working on them, Mr. Speaker. Thanks for being here."

Said Gingrich, "and you too."

Gingrich was apparently pleased with the exchange:

Trump's social media director also wanted to make sure people were aware of it:

Trump himself congratulated Gingrich this morning, calling it an "amazing interview," and that "we don't play games."