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Donald Trump was dumped from a
prime speaking
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump was dumped from a
prime speaking role to an important gathering of conservative activists
on Friday for his criticism of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly after a
combustible debate performance.
Trump was scheduled to deliver
the keynote address on Saturday night at a conference in Atlanta
organized by Red State, an influential conservative group.
Red
State chief Erick Erickson said he had disinvited Trump from the event
because of what he described as "demeaning" remarks about Kelly who was
one of three moderators during the first major Republican debate on
Thursday night in Cleveland.
"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.
Trump was unbowed by the dumping.
"This is just another example of weakness through being politically correct," his campaign said in a statement.
"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. We'll
now be doing another campaign stop at another location."
During
the debate, Kelly asked Trump to respond to derogatory statements he had
made in the past about women, calling them "fat pigs" for example.
Trump tried to wave off the question and dismissed Kelly during a
raucous debate performance.
"And honestly Megyn, if you don't
like it, I'm sorry," Trump said. "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."
Erickson said in a Facebook (NASDAQ:FB)
statement that in a CNN interview Trump said of Kelly: "You could see
there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her
wherever."
"His comment was inappropriate," said Erickson.
"It
is unfortunate to have to disinvite him. But 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," he said.
"He
is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker.
But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians
should not cross. Decency is one of those lines."
A variety of
Republican presidential candidates have been speaking at the Red State
gathering in Atlanta and Trump was scheduled for a prominent appearance.
Shortly
before Erickson's statement, Trump's campaign had just put out a media
advisory with the schedule for Trump's appearance.
The New York
billionaire has been riding high in the polls in recent weeks as
Republican search for their nominee to face the Democrats' choice in the
November 2016 election.
Carly Fiorina, the business executive
who is the only woman running for the Republican nomination and who
spoke to Red State on Friday, applauded Trump's dumping.