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Donald Trump is in trouble for insulting a woman. Again.
In a Rolling Stone profile published Wednesday, Trump mocked fellow presidential contender Carly Fiorina's face. "Look at that face," he said. "Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!" He added, "I mean, she's a woman, and I'm not s'posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?"
But Trump told CNN's Chris Cuomo on Thursday that he wasn't referring to Fiorina's appearance: "I'm not talking about looks. I'm talking about persona."
This has become a theme for Trump: Insult a woman in a way that seems objectifying and misogynistic, and then argue that it's all a giant misunderstanding.
Most recently it happened with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly. After Kelly asked some tough questions of Trump at the first Republican debate, the billionaire seemed to suggest she was driven by her menstrual cycle: "She gets out, and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever." Trump also retweeted several messages insulting Kelly, including one that called her a "bimbo."
Trump later said, once again, that he was misunderstood.
Re Megyn Kelly quote: "you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever" (NOSE). Just got on w/thought
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015
What's worse, Kelly's question was actually about Trump's attitude toward women — particularly the numerous times he called different women fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals. Trump responded then by arguing that he doesn't have time to be politically correct, drawing laughs and applause from the crowd. And after the debate was over, he continued making the same types of comments — toward Kelly and now Fiorina.
So many "politically correct" fools in our country. We have to all get back to work and stop wasting time and energy on nonsense!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) August 8, 2015
But the insults haven't slowed the billionaire's momentum in the polls. In the latest RealClearPolitics average, Trump leads the field by 13.8 percentage points.