Donald Trump on Tuesday refuted a report that he was considering ruling out a third-party run.
“I’m running as a Republican, I’m leading in every poll…I’m leading all over the place and I want to run as a Republican,” Trump said Tuesday morning on CNN’s “New Day.” “If I am treated fairly that’s the way it’s going to be but I want to keep that door open. I have to keep that door open because if something happens where I’m not treated fairly I may very well use that door.”
Trump added that an independent run is “not something I want to do.”
ABC News reported Monday that Trump was considering ruling out a third-party run, citing an unnamed senior adviser.
That came days after Trump refused to pledge to rule out a third party run and support the Republican nominee whoever it might be, when asked about it during the Republican primary debate last Thursday.
“It’s amazing how many so-called senior advisers I have. Everybody’s a senior adviser and a longtime adviser,” Trump quipped in a separate interview on Fox News on Tuesday.
Trump’s Tuesday morning Fox News appearance was his first since he criticized the Fox News moderators of Thursday’s debate and sparked a controversy by going after Megyn Kelly, saying there was “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.”
That comment was largely interpreted as a reference to menstruation, which Trump has fiercely denied.
But Trump seems to have buried the hatchet with Fox News, telling one of the show’s morning anchors that “we’ve always been friends” as he was welcomed back onto the network.
Trump again slammed those who interpreted his comments as referring to menstruation on CNN, saying only “a deviant” and those with “sick minds” or “semi-sick minds” would think that.
He instead again pivoted to slamming former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush who suggested half-a-billion dollars to fund women’s health was too much. Bush later said he “misspoke” and meant to critique only the half-a-billion dollars in funding Planned Parenthood receives.
“I think Jeb Bush owes women an apology because he made a terrible statement about women’s health issues and it was a foolish statement and perhaps a stupid statement,” Trump said. “He’s the one that has to apologize to women.”