Donald Trump gets backlash for slamming TV host popular with GOP
Donald Trump already slammed the president, the Democratic Party and his Republican rivals in the race for the White House, as well as immigrants from Mexico, the Chinese and Sen. John McCain for being a prisoner of war. To that fast-growing list he has now added Fox News Channel host Megyn Kelly. The Republican Party has long wrestled with the public perception that it is waging a “war on women” and has struggled to convince more women that it’s on their side. By Sunday, as Trump made the rounds of the morning talk shows, he was insisting, “I cherish women.” And yet for the outspoken, combative Trump, Kelly would seem to represent a type of person primed to get his goat. At 44, she is recognized as successful, whip-smart, commanding and, as she demonstrated during Thursday’s GOP debate, a woman more than ready to stand up to the 69-year-old billionaire. Trump’s position on women might be signaled by his proud ownership of beauty pageants and by his wisecrack on a TV show a decade ago that he would date his own daughter, a former teen model who was then 24, if only he weren’t her father. Referring to her debate dust-up with Trump, Kelly said in an interview broadcast Sunday, “I’m sure he’ll get over that. We’ll be fine. And so will America.” But her appearance on Fox News Channel’s “Media Buzz” was taped Friday, before Trump made his “blood coming out of her wherever” remark. Since arriving at Fox News in 2004, Kelly has broken out as a superstar. Her prime-time program, “The Kelly File,” which she launched two years ago in an upgrade from her afternoon slot, attracts upward of 2.5 million viewers. A native of Syracuse, New York, Kelly had been a self-described “unhappy Washington lawyer” when she began as a weekend reporter for a local Washington station in 2003. A year after that, she was hired by Fox News chief Roger Ailes. There she struck a different chord from the partisan hosts who surrounded her on the schedule, carving out an image as a calls-’em-as-she-sees-’em yet not-so-doctrinaire figure. “I’ve never wanted to be an opinion host, and Roger Ailes hasn’t wanted me to be an opinion host,” she told The Associated Press in 2013. “I don’t think I’d be very successful anyway. I’m not an ideologue. … I think I’m too moderate and reasonable.” Kelly has cultivated an image of speaking up in ways that have even run counter to Fox’s image. On election night 2012 she left the set to go interview Fox’s behind-the-scenes numbers analyst, tamping down the embarrassment of on-air contributor Karl Rove questioning the pronouncement that President Barack Obama had won re-election. Her legal training helped Fox correct, quicker than its rivals, an initially wrong report on the Supreme Court’s health care decision in 2012. She expressed disgust at a man’s suggestion that children of working mothers don’t fare as well as children with stay-at-home moms. In June, she scored a plum assignment from her bosses: She was tapped to interview two of the Duggar daughters who admitted to being sexually fondled by their brother, Josh Duggar, all stars of the TLC reality series, “19 Kids and Counting.” Kelly also interviewed the parents, Jim Bob and Michelle Duggar, for what was the family’s first discussion of the molestation episodes a dozen years before. Kelly’s latest showcase was joining fellow Fox News colleagues Bret Baier and Chris Wallace to moderate Thursday’s debate with Trump, the current GOP presidential front-runner, and nine other contenders. Kelly and Trump clashed early on. A tense exchange found her pressing Trump on his history of calling “women you don’t like `fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals,’” with Trump firing back, “What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don’t like it, I’m sorry. I’ve been very nice to you although I could probably maybe not be, based on the way you have treated me. But I wouldn’t do that.” By Friday, Trump had seemingly decided to be less nice. “She’s not very tough and not very sharp,” he said during a phone interview on CNN, then, referring to Kelly’s style of questioning him, he added, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” That startling outburst cost Trump an appearance before some 1,000 conservative activists at Saturday’s RedState Gathering in Atlanta when he was promptly disinvited from the event. The Republication Party asked him to “immediately clarify” his remark. Saturday evening, he and a campaign adviser parted company. But Sunday, Trump remained defiant. “I apologize when I’m wrong, but I haven’t been wrong,” he declared, saying only “a deviant” would interpret his remark as a gynecological swipe. He even denied having said it. “Do you think I’d make a stupid statement like that?” While Kelly seemed to score a boost from the uproar, Trump was unbowed, even claiming credit for the debate’s huge audience. Without him on hand, “I say with all due modesty, you would have had 2 million people and not 24 million people.” But despite a series of attacks by Trump that fortified his standing in the polls, CNN’s Jake Tapper asked if targeting Kelly, “who’s beloved by conservatives, beloved by Republican voters,” might end up hurting him. “Her whole questioning was extremely unfair to me,” Trump replied. But he insisted, “I have nothing against Megyn Kelly.” Republished with permission from the Associated Press.
Donald Trump defends record on women as presidential rivals pile on
Donald Trump doesn’t appear to be going away anytime soon, so his rivals are scrambling to figure out how best to handle the blowback from every new bout of bluster drowning out their campaigns. Lead the charge, if you’re the sole woman in the Republicans’ White House race and trying to crack the top tier for the next debate, by questioning Trump’s ability to withstand the pressure of the presidency. Belittle Trump’s claim to be a truth-teller by arguing that self-promotion is the billionaire’s guiding philosophy. Warn that Trump’s provocative comments about women endanger the party’s standing with a group that makes up the majority of voters. Or simply plead for the incessant Trump questioning to cease so that other candidates can get on with the business of why they’re running. These are the varied approaches of the other 16 Republican candidates fighting for attention and breathing room in a primary field eclipsed by Trump. On Sunday, he was back, splashed across the weekend news shows, dismissing the latest firestorm to consume his campaign and explaining how he cherishes women and would be their strongest advocate if elected. “I’m leading by double digits, so maybe I shouldn’t change,” he boasted. The latest controversy started Thursday night when Fox News debate moderator Megyn Kelly recounted Trump’s history of incendiary comments toward women. Angry over what he considered unfair treatment at the debate, Trump told CNN on Friday night that Kelly had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” The remark cost Trump a prime-time speaking slot at the RedState Gathering, the Atlanta conference where several other presidential candidates spoke to about 1,000 conservative activists. But Trump refused to back down, insisting Sunday that only “a deviant” would interpret his comment beyond a harmless barb. “I apologize when I’m wrong, but I haven’t been wrong. I said nothing wrong,” said Trump, who spoke to four Sunday news shows, skipping only Fox News, the network with which he is feuding. The flap is just the latest from Trump’s unconventional, insurgent campaign, which has excited many anti-establishment conservatives while confounding party leaders already facing the prospects of a bruising fight among 17 candidates. Some have responded by sharpening their critiques, questioning Trump’s electability, his conservative credentials, policy ideas and personality. Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, the only woman running for the GOP nomination, appeared most adept at seizing on the comments as she strives to break into the top 10. “I think women of all kinds are really sort of horrified by this,” she said, arguing that there was a difference between being politically incorrect and insulting. She also questioned Trump’s suitability for office, suggesting the businessman may be unprepared for the pressure that comes with being president. “I think you cannot have a president who is thin-skinned. If you think a question is tough, imagine the pressure of actually being in the Oval Office,” she said. Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul, a frequent Trump critic, went after Trump’s temperament and a muddled record filled with contradictory statements. “I don’t think we should reward vulgarity. And I don’t think vulgarity equates with insight,” he said. Paul also continued a line of attack he began in the debate. “I have no idea whether he’s conservative,” the senator said. “He really could be a liberal, for all I’m concerned. I have no idea what his real philosophy is, other than that he is for promoting himself.” Jeb Bush, the presidential favorite for many top Republican donors, said at RedState that Trump’s bombast would hurt the GOP’s chances with women, who already tilt toward Democrats in presidential elections. “Do we want to win? Do we want to insult 53 percent of our voters?” the former Florida governor asked. Other candidates bemoaned the challenge of preaching their message when all their precious free TV time is spent being asked about Trump. “At this point, I mean, we’ve got to focus on our message. Otherwise, my whole campaign will be, `How do you feel about what Donald Trump said about something?’” Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said. “He says something every day.” Ohio Gov. John Kasich, took a similar tone, describing himself as a strong proponent of women, but avoiding criticizing Trump at length. “I think it’s more important for me to tell you who I am and what I think than spend my time on the negative side of the street,” he said. Mike Huckabee, a former Arkansas governor seemed exasperated at RedState, at one point snapping at reporters after being asked several Trump-related questions. On Sunday, he took a more measured approach. “I think the rest of us are doing what we’re supposed to do and that’s focus on getting a message out, which is sometimes hard to do because all the air in the balloon is going to Donald Trump right now,” he said. Trump, who has refused to rule out a third party run if he falls short of the GOP nomination, was asked about those Republicans wondering what it will take to get him out of their party. “I don’t think anything. I really want to stay.” Trump appeared on NBC’s “Meet the Press,” CBS’ “Face the Nation,” ABC’s “This Week” and CNN’s ” State of the Union.” Fiorina was on CNN, CBS and “Fox News Sunday. Kasich appeared on CNN and ABC, while Huckabee was on ABC, Rubio on NBC and Paul on Fox. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Debate shatters Fox News ratings record, Donald Trump feels heat
Donald Trump always boasted about his ratings for “Celebrity Apprentice.” Now he can say the same thing about his first presidential debate, even if he didn’t like the show very much. Thursday’s prime-time GOP candidates’ forum on Fox News Channel reached a stunning 24 million viewers, by far the largest audience ever for that network and any cable news event. The closest was the 1992 “Larry King Live” debate between Al Gore and Ross Perot on CNN, which was seen by 16.8 million people, the Nielsen company said. In fact, it stands as the most-watched television program of the summer so far, beating the last game of the NBA Finals and the women’s World Cup soccer finals, Nielsen said. The debate left front-runner Trump singed by the aggressive questioning of Fox’s moderator team of Bret Baier, Megyn Kelly and Chris Wallace. Trump tweeted out criticism of the moderators as “not very good or professional” and retweeted a message from a supporter who called Kelly a “bimbo.” Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes called his moderators “the best political team ever put on television.” Trump became the focus of Thursday’s forum right away, when Baier asked the 10 candidates onstage in Cleveland which of them would not pledge to support the eventual GOP nominee or run a third-party candidacy. Trump was the only one to raise his hand, leading opponent Rand Paul to criticize him. Kelly’s sharp first question noted that Trump had called women he didn’t like “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.” When Trump suggested he had only insulted Rosie O’Donnell, Kelly corrected him and asked whether this represented the proper temperament for a president and left him vulnerable to charges that he is part of a war on women. Trump pointed to his lack of political correctness. “I’ve been very nice to you although I could probably not be based on the way you’ve treated me,” Trump told Kelly. “But I wouldn’t do that.” Wallace asked Trump two tough questions and, in a quick-moving format that allowed little time for followups, both times came back at Trump for not answering them. Wallace asked Trump to provide proof for his earlier statement that the Mexican government is sending criminals to the United States, and later questioned him on how he could be trusted to run the nation’s economy when his companies have declared bankruptcy four times. Baier asked Trump to reconcile his past support of single-payer health care with his opposition to President Obama‘s health plan, and what he felt he received in return for past political donations to Hillary Clinton and Nancy Pelosi. Kelly also pointed out Trump’s past support for Democrats and asked, “when did you become a Republican?” “I don’t think they like me very much,” Trump said. Later, Trump wrote on Twitter: “I really enjoyed the debate tonight even though the @foxnews trio, especially @megynkelly, was not very good or professional.” In another message, he wrote that Kelly “really bombed.” He retweeted several messages from others who criticized Fox, including one who wrote that “Fox viewers give low marks to bimbo @MegynKelly.” On Fox after the debate, Kelly noted that it “creates an awkward dynamic” to have Trump attack her after she has asked a tough question about what he has said and done to women. “I’m extremely proud of all of the moderators – they asked tough, important questions and did their job as journalists,” Ailes told POLITICO. “I think that was the best political debate team ever put on television. Their performance was outstanding.” Fox had attracted attention prior to the debate for deciding to include 10 of the 17 declared candidates in the prime-time debate. The other candidates competed in a forum that began at 5 p.m. ET to an audience of one-quarter the size. Still, even the earlier forum attracted a larger audience than all but five of 18 Republican debates televised during the 2012 election cycle. The most-watched GOP primary debate for the 2012 election, on ABC in December 2011, had 7.6 million people, Nielsen said. Fox attracted just under 12 million viewers for its 2012 Election Night coverage, its previous standard for biggest audience. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump barred from conservative gathering after latest barb
Donald Trump opened his mouth and now finds the door closed to him at a high-profile gathering of conservative activists. His latest incendiary comment, about one of the Fox News moderators from Thursday’s Republican presidential debate, has led to a scolding by the party and condemnation by organizers of the RedState Gathering. The billionaire businessman lashed out against Fox News’ Megyn Kelly for her questions during the campaign’s first debate. She had asked the candidate about his use of derogatory language toward women and whether it reflected the “temperament of a man we should elect as president.” Referring to Kelly’s questions, Trump told CNN in an interview late Friday, “There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Soon after the interview aired, RedState‘s Erick Erickson booted Trump from the event’s Saturday lineup. “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,” Erickson wrote on the RedState website. He said 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 cross.” Trump’s campaign was incensed — and unbowed. “This is just another example of weakness through being politically correct. For all of the people who were looking forward to Mr. Trump coming, we will miss you. Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader,” according to a campaign statement. The Republican National Committee, treading carefully about the current front-runner for the 2016 nomination, called on Trump to “immediately clarify” his comment and said it would “highly inappropriate” if Trump stood by his remarks. Trump needs “to understand that he is seeking the presidency of the United States now and that words do matter,” RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told NBC’s “Today” show on Saturday. “I’m hoping that Mr. Trump, because he does speak off the cuff, because he doesn’t ascribe to political correctness, was speaking in a way that wasn’t fully thought out,” Spicer said. Trump’s absence from Saturday’s program threatened to overshadow appearances by a number of his rivals, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker. Erickson said he had invited Fox’s Kelly to attend in place of Trump in the evening. Republished with permission of the Associated Press.
Donald Trump: “I don’t recognize” insults of women
GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he can’t recall specifics of insulting women, though news reports paint a long history of him comparing women to animals. Trump said Friday he doesn’t recognize the words Fox News‘s Megyn Kelly used during a debate on Thursday. Kelly asked about him having called women “fat pigs,” “dogs,” “slobs,” and “disgusting animals.” In the debate, Trump joked that he was only referring to talk show host Rosie O’Donnell but didn’t deny having used the insults. “I don’t frankly have time for total political correctness,” Trump said during the debate. The issue is important because women are a majority of registered voters. On Friday, Trump questioned whether he actually used those insults. “You know, some of the statements she made about the women, I don’t recognize those words whatsoever,” Trump said on ABC’s “Good Morning America.” “We’re going to take a very serious look at it.” He said on MSNBC‘s “Morning Joe,” “Not that I’m an angel, by the way. But I don’t recognize those words, so you know, she was spewing out these words, and I’m sitting there. … We’re going to have it checked out.” In fact, news outlets have reported on the incidents Kelly mentioned. Trump wrote New York Times columnist Gail Collins that she had the “face of a dog,” the columnist wrote in 2011. Trump called a lawyer “disgusting” when she wanted a break to pump milk for her baby, The New York Times reported last month. Trump has called O’Donnell a “fat pig,” a “slob” and an “animal,” according to several published reports. Kelly also mentioned that Trump had once told a contestant on NBC’s Celebrity Apprentice it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Republished with permission of The Associated Press.
