Donald Trump found a new misogynistic low Friday, suggesting that Fox News moderator Megyn Kelly's questions to him at Thursday night's Republican presidential primary debate were driven by her menstrual cycle.
Update: Coverage of the second Republican debate.
"She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions," Trump said in an interview on CNN Friday night. "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her ... wherever."
The remarks drew a swift rebuke from Carly Fiorina, the only woman in the 17-person Republican primary field.
Mr. Trump: There. Is. No. Excuse.
— Carly Fiorina (@CarlyFiorina) August 8, 2015
Before the CNN interview, Trump and his followers had spent much of Thursday and Friday trying to discredit Kelly's performance as a moderator.
Wow, @megynkelly really bombed tonight. People are going wild on twitter! Funny to watch.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 7, 2015
The question Trumpworld most objected to was this:
You've called women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' and 'disgusting animals.' Your Twitter account has several disparaging comments about women's looks, and you once told a candidate on Celebrity Apprentice that it would be a pretty picture to see her on her knees. Does that sound to you like the temperament of someone we should elect as president? And how will you answer the charge from Hillary Clinton, who is likely to be the nominee, that you are part of the war on women?"
As my colleague Amanda Taub pointed out, Trump's response was a "master class on how to get away with sexism," complete with an attack on Kelly and an insistence that everything he said was in good fun.
On Friday night, Trump characterized Kelly's motivation in perhaps the most sexist possible way, and he also impugned her professional integrity, calling her a "lightweight."
