During an interview with CNN Friday night, GOP front-runner Donald Trump indicated he was less than impressed with Fox News host Megyn Kelly. Kelly was one of a panel of debate moderators in the first Republican Presidential Primary debate hosted by Fox News Thursday night.
From CNN:
In an interview with Don Lemon on “CNN Tonight,” Trump on Friday accused Fox of asking “vicious,” unfair questions at the debate and called Kelly “overrated.”Kelly had pressed Trump about misogynistic, sexist comments in his past.On CNN, Trump called the questions “ridiculous,” called her “off-base,” and said, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”Trump told Lemon that he didn’t know whether he’d participate in a future Fox debate. “I might not, to be honest,” he said. “I didn’t think they were fair.”Earlier in the day, Trump had blasted Kelly on Twitter and wrote that Fox News “should be ashamed.”
One of many GOP presidential candidates attending RedState Gathering, Trump was scheduled to speak at a reception Saturday night. After the remarks made on CNN, Erick Erickson of RedState rescinded Trumps invitation.
And then invited Megyn Kelly to fill the empty speaking slot.
Posting on RedState late Friday night, Erickson wrote:
I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the Presidency.He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker. He connects with so much of the anger in the Republican base and is not afraid to be outspoken on a lot of issues. But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross.Decency is one of those lines.As much as I do personally like Donald Trump, his comment about Megyn Kelly on CNN is a bridge too far for me.In a CNN interview, Mr. Trump said of Megyn Kelly, “You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.”It was not the “blood coming out of her eyes” part that was the problem.I think there is no way to otherwise interpret Mr. Trump’s comment. In an attempted clarification, Mr. Trump’s team tells me he meant “whatever”, not “wherever.”…I called Mr. Trump’s campaign manager and apologized and told him I felt bad for Mr. Trump because he has gotten so much sh*t from so many people and the party itself wasn’t treating the guy at the front of the pack as legitimate.I think that is true. And I’ve been very sympathetic to Donald Trump because so many of the people who have led the party astray refuse to even treat him as a legitimate candidate.But I also think that while Mr. Trump resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for President should not trust.His comment was inappropriate. It is unfortunate to have to disinvite him. But I just don’t want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong.
Trump’s campaign manager lashed out at Erickson accusing him of exerting political correctness in his decision-making:
Trump’s campaign said in a statement that Erickson’s decision was “another example of weakness through being politically correct. For all the people who were looking forward to Mr. Trump coming, we will miss you. Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader. We’ll now be doing another campaign stop at another location.”
To which Erickson responded:
Erickson told the Washington Post, “I don’t like that I have to disinvite him. But there are bounds of what’s acceptable in our discourse and they’re not different for you, or me, or someone else. I’m not going to have a guy on stage with my wife and daughter in the crowd who thinks a tough question from a woman is because of hormones.”
But this is not the first time Erickson has taken a stand against those who’ve crossed a line.
UPDATE (by WAJ):
Follow Kemberlee Kaye on Twitter @kemberleekaye
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