Trump made the remark in an interview with CNN about Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly, who repeatedly quizzed Trump about past crude comments about women during Thursday night’s debate.
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“While I have tried to give him great latitude, his remark about Megyn Kelly was a bridge too far”, Erickson said, adding he had invited Kelly, one of Fox’s highest profile anchors, to attend his conference in Trump’s place. “I said, ‘Be at my wedding, ‘ and she came to my wedding”.
In an attempt to clarify the comment, Trump’s organization reportedly said he meant “whatever”, not “wherever”.
Nevertheless, he said, while Trump’s bluntness resonates with many, including himself, “to a degree”, there are some “lines of decency” a presidential candidate should not cross.
Late Friday, Robert Costa, a national political reporter for the Washington Post, said the Trump campaign slammed Erickson in an email, calling his move an example of weakness through political correctness. “Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader”, according to a campaign statement.
This morning, Trump tweeted that he was sorry to have missed the chance to hang out with voters still attracted to his brand of campaigning – which is generally disliked by a majority of the American public. Ted Cruz of Texas, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker.
Soon after the interview aired, RedState’s Erick Erickson booted Trump from the event’s Saturday lineup.
Former Hewlett Packard CEO Carly Fiorina tweeted on Friday night, “Mr. Trump: There. Is”. Asked the obvious follow-up – what did he get? – and perhaps aware that some potential answers could cause him a lot of trouble, he said that he had purchased her attendance at one of his weddings. “Now make no mistake, his popularity may even go up slightly, but the negativity around him – because in the end you still have to be liked by a majority of Republicans to get the nomination – what I saw yesterday was the beginning of hostility that I haven’t seen toward a presidential candidate”.
He also said Trump neither failed nor soared.
Maybe the polls will prove me wrong, but I didn’t think the night actually went well for Trump.
Trump’s comment also attracted the notice of Rupert Murdoch.
“Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don’t use a politician’s filter”.
“What the HELL”, Townhall editor and Fox News contributor Katie Pavlich tweeted. “No. Excuse”, she wrote.
Kelly, for her part, has not directly addressed the comments – either on Twitter or on her show – and appears to be looking to take the higher ground in the dispute. 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.
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By comparison, the first Republican debate of the 2012 campaign drew just 3.2 million viewers.
