Donald Trump says he did “nothing wrong whatsoever” by criticizing Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, and wasn’t referring to her menstruating when he complained that during Thursday night’s debate there was “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her — wherever.”
“Who would say that?” Trump said Sunday in an interview with CNN’s Jake Tapper on “State of the Union.” “Do you think I’d make a statement like that? Who would make a statement like that? Only a sick person would even think about that.”
The extraordinary exchange with Tapper showed how quickly Trump has shifted from a high-flying frontrunner to the public face in a campaign in turmoil.
The episode is another indication of the tumult surrounding Trump’s presidential campaign, which recently cut ties with two men accused of writing inflammatory Facebook posts. Trump, who is currently leading national polls, delivered an explosive performance at the first GOP debate in Cleveland Thursday, and went on to make inflammatory comments about Fox News host Megyn Kelly in an interview on CNN Friday night.
On Sunday, Trump didn’t apologize for his remark, which came in a Friday night appearance on CNN. He blamed his Republican presidential opponents for fanning the flames of controversy, and claimed he meant to refer to her “nose and/or ears” — not a woman’s period.
“Only a deviant would say that what I said was what they were referring to. Because nobody would make that statement. You almost have to be sick to put that together,” he said, repeating his defense of the remark he used Saturday.
A sign of just how rocky the campaign operation has become, Trump’s campaign said Saturday it had fired top political adviser Roger Stone — who promptly denied being let go and insisted he had quit.
Trump attacked several of the Republicans who have criticized his remarks about Kelly.
He pointed to former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush’s gaffe over women’s health funding last week, saying he “came out horribly” and that the comment about overfunding — which Bush said was meant to reference Planned Parenthood — “will go down to haunt him and be the same as Romney’s ‘47%.'”
Trump dismissed South Carolina Sen. Lindsey Graham and former Hewlett-Packard chief executive officer Carly Fiorina.
Of blogger Erick Erickson’s decision to revoke Trump’s invitation to the weekend’s conservative RedState Gathering, Trump said: “This guy’s a loser. He’s backed so many candidates who have lost.”
He even said he’s gotten the better of his attacks on Kelly, which stemmed from her question about Trump using words like “pigs” to describe women during Thursday night’s debate.
“I have nothing against Megyn Kelly. I think her question was extremely unfair to me — her whole question was unfair to me. … On social media, I’m the one that’s beloved,” Trump said.