Donald Trump To Appear On Sunday Morning Political Shows; Will Likely Attempt To Defuse Megyn Kelly Controversy

UPDATE 10:30 a.m. EDT: In his appearance on NBC's "Meet the Press," Donald Trump said he resents not being asked questions about jobs and the economy during the debate. "I want to talk about jobs and the economy," he said.

Asked why he demeans women's looks when he criticizes them, Trump said: "I was attacked by the people you were talking about. ... I don't mean a little bit. When I'm attacked, I fight back. ... Am I allowed to defend myself? What they said about me was far worse."

Former HP CEO Carly Fiorina, however, isn't cutting Trump any slack. "There's no excuse for this," she said on "Fox News Sunday," noting Trump didn't demean the two male questioners during Thursday's debate.

UPDATE 9:15 a.m. EDT: Donald Trump tried to tamp down the firestorm on his remarks regarding Megyn Kelly by saying, "I cherish women," in his appearance Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." Fellow Republican rival Carly Fiorina, appearing right after Trump, called his remarks inappropriate.

On CBS's "Face the Nation," Trump said he would be "phenomenal to women."

"I'm very much into the whole thing of helping people and helping women, women's health issues are such a big thing to me," he said."I was one of the first people in the construction industry in New York to put women in charge of projects."

Original post:

Republican presidential aspirant Donald Trump announced on Twitter late Saturday that he will be appearing on political TV shows “Meet the Press,” “This Week” and “Face the Nation” this Sunday.

Trump will likely be looking to use his appearances to contain the negative reaction, in conservative circles and beyond, to remarks he made about Fox News host Megyn Kelly, in the aftermath of Thursday's first Republican primary debate.

In the aftermath of his comments, Trump was disinvited from a high-profile conservative event this weekend, the RedState Gathering. The event's organizer, RedState editor Erick Erickson, said in a statement: “As much as I do personally like Donald Trump, his comment about Megyn Kelly on CNN is a bridge too far for me.”

Trump took exception to Kelly's line of questioning during the debate, when she asked him to justify calling “women you don't like fat pigs, slobs, dogs and disgusting animals." Kelly's questions to Trump during the debate earned respect from media commentators for their challenging nature.

Trump subsequently said of their exchange, that Kelly's questions were “nasty,” and “unfair,” and that she had had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” in an apparent reference to menstruation.

The Trump campaign subsequently attempted to clarify the remarks, saying in a statement: “Mr. Trump made Megyn Kelly look really bad -- she was a mess with her anger and totally caught off-guard. Mr Trump said 'blood 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.”

The Megyn Kelly controversy has also caused some upheaval within the Trump camp itself, with Trump announcing on Saturday afternoon that he had fired his top campaign adviser, Roger Stone. Stone, however, said that he had quit the campaign, citing the Kelly controversy as a “diversion”.

Politico reported that people close to Stone had told them he was quitting the campaign hours before Trump's announcement.