Earlier this evening, CNN’s Don Lemon interviewed Donald Trump about the debate on Fox News Channel last night, and set off another Trump-related tempest. After noting that Kelly pushed Trump during the debate, and that she “pushed a lot of people” besides Trump, Lemon asked, “What is it with you and Megyn Kelly?” Trump’s reply was, er … colorful, to say the least [emphasis mine]:
TRUMP: Well, I just don’t respect her as a journalist, I have no respect for her. I don’t think she’s very good, I think she’s highly overrated. But when I came out there, you know — what am I doing? I’m not getting paid for this. I go out there, and they start saying this stuff [garbled]. But you know, I didn’t know there’d be 24 million people. I knew it was going to be a big crowd because I get crowds, I get ratings. They call me the ratings machine. So I have, you know, she gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions, and you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her … wherever. But in my opinion, she was off base.
Kelly did ask Trump tough questions in last night’s debate, but she asked tough questions of Marco Rubio on abortion too, and of other candidates on stage as well. As the front-runner, Trump should have expected tough questions, especially given his track record of supporting nearly every progressive idea at one time or another, including Hillary Clinton being President. Kelly also asked Trump about his remarks about women, which appears to have particularly rankled him — and pushed him into validating Kelly’s premise in asking those questions in the first place. After all, it’s not often when a major party candidate takes a shot at a woman by reminding everyone of her menstrual cycle. I’m certain that will really impress women about their place in the Republican Party.
Trump was scheduled to speak at the Red State Gathering tomorrow, in the final slot at the event. Not long after these remarks, event organizer Erick Erickson announced that he had withdrawn the invitation:
I have rescinded my invitation to Mr.Trump. While I have tried to give him great latitude, his remark about Megyn Kelly was a bridge too far
That will undoubtedly anger some Trump supporters, but after last night’s debate performance and his thin-skinned whining afterward, I wonder if that group wasn’t already in decline. This might fire up the die-hard Trump troops, but suggesting that a journalist went after his target-rich record only because she was menstruating should be a disqualifier for most voters. It’s vastly worse than anything Todd Akin said, and will almost certainly have media outlets demanding responses from the other Republican candidates. It’s practically tailor-made for Democrats to hoist up the Republican War On Women banner, especially Hillary Clinton.
Get ready for plenty of Team Trump dog-in-the-manger, sour-grapes quotes in the morning, if not overnight. There may be some legitimate anger among a small group of RSG15 attendees tomorrow who wanted to see Trump at this event, but Erick has a solid case for not wanting to have this overshadow the event tomorrow, with more presidential candidates on hand to make their pitches. Erick will almost certainly address this in the morning, and we’ll see what the fallout is over the rest of the day.
Update: Carly Fiorina appears to be the first Republican candidate to respond to Trump’s remarks, perhaps fittingly so (via Twitchy):
That’s interesting, because Fiorina actually deflected a Trump question at her presser today at RSG15 by asking why the media wasn’t calling out Obama for his offensive comments about opponents of the Iran deal. Not this time, apparently.
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.
I have invited Megyn Kelly to attend in Donald Trump’s place tomorrow night.
Well, that would be interesting. We’ll see if she can swing that.
#4. To: TooConservative, misterwhite, redleghunter, Stoner, LF (#0)
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.
What utter horsebleep. "Hostile"?? Did these a-holes watch the first few minutes of the debate and FOX News's hit on Trump?? Whomever watched it won't soon forget what they saw and hear WITH THEIR OWN EYES AND EARS.
Megyn Kelly is a "lady"?? Since when? I thought she was...another female super-hero -- just like in the movies! She just demonstrated her own high-falootin' gun slinging "moderating", shooting up the saloon, aiming for Trump's head. But now suddenly she and Fiorina are delicate flowers WHEN it's convenient? And now they require "saving" by a White Knight like Erick Erickson??
Erickson is FOS. He's either a fake Pubbie and tool of GOPe, a Democrat(R), OR a homofascist. Or as I suspect, ALL of the above.
We're finding out not only are the two political PARTIES colluding and co-mingling, but so too are the media -- particularly FOX News.
Guess what? Trump *will* be running Third Party. Thanks to the un-masked FOX News MSNBC-lite and the GOPe, aka Dem-lite. And if the candidate for the GOP isn't Cruz or Walker, my vote goes to Trump. Hitlery or not, we're cratered.
Blah, blah blah. Who gives a rat's ass? This nation is phucked no matter who is deemed captain at the helm to run this nation from any political party.
The place is not fixable. You have to move out of this cesspool.
This nation is phucked no matter who is deemed captain at the helm to run this nation from any political party.
Still NOT necessarily. But you're now witness to THE mentality that "things CAN get worse." They did because with Hoosane as Prez, the Machine that was designed to destroy the US was even MORE oiled, MORE moled, MORE infested with subversives and saboteurs.
With a Cruz or Trump, SOME of the damage can be reversed with the right candidate, the rats eradicated, and the pendulum can swing the other way. Probable, no. Possible, yes. But it would take a miracle.
The place is not fixable. You have to move out of this cesspool.
Where would/could you go?
Look -- the odds to fixing anything don't look good, admittedly. Precisely becase The Fix has been in. Talk to Robert (RLK) about the Frankfurt School. Their agenda has been realized.
As long as the media is given license to remain THE Message, and lies are portrayed as the "truth," we ARE screwed totally. What happened during this debate, to Trump, and the ideological sabotage and games played by the moderators, Kelly, Wallace, and Baier was an eye-opener. Even to moderates. The game indicted FOX News -- conservatives' ONLY previous source of "truth" as a tool of the GOPe and a subversive element.
Taxed to death to pay for foreign intrigue that goes nowhere while the US borders are allowed to be infiltrated by the lowest scum on the planet and receive full citizenship? Are you out of your phuckin' mind?
Taxed to death to pay for foreign intrigue that goes nowhere while the US borders are allowed to be infiltrated by the lowest scum on the planet and receive full citizenship? Are you out of your phuckin' mind?
Yeah, yeah, yeah. What of it?? Who supports it?
HELLO. These are the issues of candidates to address what we're trying to support.
