Donald Trump Offers No Apology Over 'Blood' Comments
— -- Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump offered no apology to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly today, saying he didn't cross the line regarding his comments about her following Thursday's debate and calling out some of his rivals who said he should apologize his comments.
Trump sparred with Kelly during Thursday's debate and criticized her afterwards, including telling CNN the next day that "there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" while speaking about the questions she asked him. In an interview with ABC's "This Week" today, Trump reiterated his earlier clarification that by "wherever" he meant her nose.
“I have nothing against Megyn Kelly,” he said. "She asked me a very, very nasty question."
Trump’s spat with Kelly began with her first question about some of the language he has used to describe women -- namely over Twitter. While reading out some of the terms Trump has used, like “disgusting” and “fat pig,” he interrupted Kelly, claiming he had only used those words to describe one woman.
“In the middle of her questioning, I brought up a statement Rosie O'Donnell, and the entire place -- it was the biggest combination of laughter and applause,” he said. “The place went crazy. It interrupted her question, it obviously shook her up a little bit. But she was angry.”
The comments about Kelly led RedState's Erick Erickson to withdraw Trump's invitation to a gathering hosted by the group in Atlanta this weekend, a decision his campaign said was made by a "total loser" who "has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns."
Trump added "only a deviant would think of what people said" regarding his comments, stressing the same language his campaign used in a statement Saturday.
“I was referring to nose, ears. They're very common statements,” he said. “What it means is that a person is angry, very angry. She was very angry.”
Trump added that he didn’t take a moment to clarify the remark during the Friday interview because he “wanted to get on to the next subject.”
The real estate mogul also went after two of his rivals for the Republican nomination -- former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Carly Fiorina -- both of whom said Trump should apologize to Kelly.
Trump called out Bush's recent comments on women's health issues and touted his own relationships with women, saying he was one of the first to put women in charge of major construction projects.
"What he [Bush] said a couple of days ago, if you want to really get down to the important stuff, because what he said about women and women's health issues was ridiculous," said Trump.
He then took aim at Fiorina, calling her time as head of technology giant Hewlett-Packard “a disaster” and took a shot at her over her failed California Senate bid before saying she is a “very nice person.”
“Carly Fiorina, you know, she's having a lot of fun, but she doesn't discuss the fact that her tenure at Hewlett Packard was a disaster,” he said. “She then ran for the Senate, which nobody even talks about, and she lost in a landslide. And other than that, I wish her well. She's a very nice person.”
The comments may also have cost Trump one of his longtime advisers. His campaign said Saturday he had fired Roger Stone, though Stone said he quit over Trump's comments about Kelly.
