Megyn Kelly pinned down Ric Grenell during a recent interview after he repeated an accusation that Ron DeSantis is a "homophobe" 

As RedState reported, Grenell had previously accused DeSantis of being "homophobic" following the sharing of a controversial video by the DeSantis War Room account that attempted to tie Donald Trump to the pro-transgender movement. 

While speaking to Kelly, Grenell doubled down, claiming that DeSantis has ruined his chances for 2028 because "no one wants to see a homophobic take over the Republican Party again."

“I’ve worked way too hard in my career to allow a presidential candidate to dial us back like that. I believe that Ron DeSantis ruined his chances for 2028 [sic]. Nobody wants to see a homophobic take over the Republican Party again. And I know I’m gonna get attacked for this, but the reality is, is that he was wrong,” said Grenell. “I’m not going to sit back and allow this migration, and thank God for Donald Trump and Melania Trump, who also are not going to let us go there.”

Perhaps Grenell thought Kelly, who herself has been warm to Donald Trump over the last year or so, was going to let his commentary go unchallenged. She didn't, though. Instead, she pointed out the context of the video, ill-advised or not, and asked the former Trump official to describe what policies DeSantis has put in place that are "homophobic."

Kelly pushed back, saying, “To me, that ad overall seemed aimed at the trans community, and the push for trans rights and suggesting Donald Trump had been an early leader and standing up for trans rights, saying Caitlyn Jenner could use the women’s bathroom and trans women could be in his beauty pageants. That seems what he was focused on.”

“When I look at his actual policies, I don’t see anti-gay,” Kelly added. “I mean, I see somebody’s trying, like you said, to try to protect children from having this stuff come into the classroom agendas, which I think you agree with. But apart from the ad, which I’ll accept your position as a gay man was offensive to you, is there a policy that he’s pushed that you think is a problem or radical?”

Kelly is correct that the video appeared to be hitting fairly exclusively at transgender issues, including Trump's embrace of Caitlyn Jenner, who was an early influence in pushing transgenderism forward. With that said, it did show Trump grasping an LGBT flag, which could be assumed by watchers to mean criticism of more than transgenderism, even if that wasn't the probable intent.

Does that make DeSantis a "homophobe," though? I think that's a very strong allegation and one that Republicans shouldn't be throwing around just to score political points in a primary (Grenell is obviously extremely pro-Trump).

Sure enough, Grenell couldn't offer a single example of what actually made DeSantis supposedly "homophobic."

Grenell tried to change the subject back to suburban women, but Kelly wasn’t finished. “I get it. You made that point. What in terms of pol—I’m looking for what’s he done in Florida because he’s been there, you know, as a governor since ’18, or proposing now that you think is radical?” she asked.

Grenell then said the quiet part out loud: “I’m not in Florida, so I’m not going to be able to give you any specific Florida policies.”

Accusations of homophobia, to the extent they should be made at all, should be bolstered by the citation of specific actions or statements directly made by a person that entail that label. That Grenell can't list anything DeSantis has actually done or said to warrant such an attack makes his allegations look weak and contrived. Again, you don't have to like the video that caused such a stir some months ago, but is what was in that video, a video DeSantis likely never saw until after it was published, really enough evidence to label a fellow Republican homophobic?

Those are the kind of haphazard charges conservatives have been enduring from the left for years. Seeing it used within the Republican Party, especially on such specious grounds, is not comforting in the least. Grenell could have criticized the video's presentation without jumping to far-left attacks, and Kelly was right to push back. Republicans should not give up valuable premises, such as opposition to transgenderism, in pursuit of short-term political scores. To do so is ultimately self-defeating.