Donald Trump pushes back after being disinvited from RedState gathering in Atlanta

Politics

Donald Trump pushes back after being disinvited from RedState gathering in Atlanta

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, disinvited from a conservative conference and under fire because of remarks about a female debate moderator, defended his comments on Saturday while denouncing politically correct “fools." Trump had been scheduled to give the keynote address on Saturday night at the RedState gathering in Atlanta, where several other members of the 17-person Republican field were appearing. The comments by Trump, whose blunt manner has brought a new dynamic to the 2016 presidential race, come during a campaign in which Republicans are trying to overcome what Democrats say is their "war on women.”

Erick Erickson, who heads the influential RedState website, said on Friday he canceled Trump’s address because of the candidate’s “demeaning” comments about Fox News’ Megyn Kelly, who was one of three moderators at Thursday night’s candidates debate. Trump, who was leading in polls going into the debate, thought Kelly was unfair in asking him about his previous comments on women. "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes,“ Trump said in a CNN interview on Friday. "Blood coming out of her wherever." The Trump campaign issued a statement on Saturday, saying, "Mr. Trump made Megyn Kelly look really bad - she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off guard. Mr. Trump said ‘blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever’ meaning nose, but wanted to move on to more important topics. Only a deviant would think anything else.”