Donald Trump said late Friday that Fox News’ Megyn Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” And that got him thrown off the program Saturday at the RedState gathering of conservatives.
Trump responded by calling the event’s organizer a “total loser,” and said the “wherever” was supposed to be Kelly’s nose.
It was too much for Erick Erickson of RedState. “There are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross. Decency is one of those lines,” he wrote on the group’s website. “As much as I do personally like Donald Trump, his comment about Megyn Kelly on CNN is a bridge too far for me.”
Kelly had rattled Trump, the Republican presidential front-runner, at Thursday’s debate by asking him about his past derogatory statements about women.
Trump fired back Friday, and so did Erickson. “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,” he wrote.
“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 cross.”
The Trump campaign issued a statement saying Trump “made Megyn Kelly look really bad (Thursday night). She was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard. Mr. Trump said ‘blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever’ meaning nose, but wanted to move on to more important topics. Only a deviant would think anything else. This related to the debate, which because of Mr. Trump had 24 million viewers -- the biggest in cable news history. According to Time, Newsmax, Drudge Report, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Hill and many others, Mr. Trump won the debate.”
And, the statement said, Erickson “has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns so it is an honor to be uninvited from his event. Mr. Trump is an outsider and does not fit his agenda. Many of the 900 people that wanted to hear Mr. Trump speak tonight have been calling and emailing -- they are very angry at Erickson and the others that are trying to be so politically correct. To them Mr. Trump says, ‘We will catch you at another time soon.’ ”
Trump’s rivals were quick to blast the Republican front-runner.
Former executive Carly Fiorina quickly tweeted “Mr. Trump: There. Is. No. Excuse.”
Scott Walker, governor of Wisconsin, agreed, tweeting “I agree with @CarlyFiorina, there's no excuse for Trump's comments. Stand with @MegynKelly.”
Others tweeted the same view. “It is better to risk losing w/out @RealDonaldTrump than trying to win w/him,” said Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina.
Rick Perry, the former governor of Texas, tweeted the comment “proves once a gain that he does not have the temperament to be president.”
And George Pataki, former governor of New York, saidthge comments were "sad but predictable meltdown from Trump. With all due respect to @megynkelly the outrage at Trump's divisive language is long overdue."
John Kasich, governor of Ohio, said in a statement "everyone deserves respect and dignity, whether they agree with you or not."
At RedState, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, said “What Donald Trump said is wrong. That is not how we win elections. Worse yet, that is not how you bring people together to solve problems. That is not the way to do it. So your decision, I think, was the right one. Mr. Trump ought to apologize.”
Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, though, would not be critical. CNN reported that he said, “I think every one candidate should treat everyone with civility and respect. It's a standard I try to follow. I don't think we're going to solve the problems in this country by obsessing over the politics of personality. This is about real challenges facing the American people."
David Lightman: 202-383-6101, @lightmandavid
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