Donald Trump 'Disinvited' From RedState Event Over Megyn Kelly Comments

Republican presidential hopeful Donald Trump was disinvited from a conservative conference in Atlanta this weekend by its organizer, conservative commentator Erick Erickson. Erickson’s decision followed Trump’s disparaging comments in relation to Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly during an interview late Friday.

Trump was set to speak at Erickson’s RedState Gathering on Saturday at the College Football Hall of Fame, but an hour before midnight on Friday, Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, was told that Trump was no longer welcome. Trump had earlier been announced as the “surprise guest” to close the annual RedState Gathering.

In comments made in an interview with CNN, Trump said Kelly, who was one of the moderators of the Republican debate in Cleveland, Ohio on Thursday, had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever.” Erickson said that he has invited Kelly in place of Trump as the guest for the event.

“I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the Presidency. He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker. He connects with so much of the anger in the Republican base and is not afraid to be outspoken on a lot of issues. But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross,” Erickson said, in a statement, adding: “As much as I do personally like Donald Trump, his comment about Megyn Kelly on CNN is a bridge too far for me.”

Erickson added: “His comment was inappropriate. 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,” adding: “I have invited Megyn Kelly to attend in Donald Trump’s place tomorrow night.”

The move to disinvite Trump started a row between his campaign and Erickson on Twitter. Trump’s campaign hit back at Erickson’s decision and said, in a statement, cited by the Washington Post, that the move was “another example of weakness through being politically correct. For all 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.” Erickson responded to the comments through tweets.

After the debate Thursday, Trump branded Kelly's questions about sexist remarks he had made in the past as “nasty” and “unfair.” Early Friday, he used the word “bimbo” to describe Kelly while responding to a tweet, adding that she and Fox News were not “good or professional!”

During the debate, Kelly challenged Trump for having "called women you don’t like, ‘fat pigs,’ ‘dogs,’ 'slobs,' and 'disgusting animals'.”