WASHINGTON, (Reuters) – U.S. presidential candidate Donald Trump yesterday escalated a fight with Fox News, using the word “bimbo” in a derogatory tweet about anchorwoman Megyn Kelly after pulling out of a debate only days before the first nominating contest of the 2016 campaign.
Trump on Tuesday withdrew from the televised encounter, scheduled for Thursday night in Des Moines, Iowa, in irritation at host Fox News for allowing Kelly to moderate after her questioning had angered him in a debate last year.
The real estate magnate, who is the Republican front-runner to win the nomination for the Nov. 8 presidential election, followed up with a thinly veiled insult on Wednesday.
“I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct,” he wrote on Twitter. “Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!”
Trump’s Republican presidential rivals were quick to criticize the former reality TV star, with U.S. Senator Ted Cruz of Texas blistering him in a series of tweets and accusing him of “trembling at being questioned by Kelly.”
Another Republican hopeful, U.S. Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky, told Fox News that he welcomed Trump’s absence from the debate stage because it means “we don’t have to put up with a lot of empty blather and boastfulness and calling people names.”
Trump’s move means the last televised debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses – which kick off the state-by-state nominating race to choose candidates for the Nov. 8 presidential election – will not feature the man who has dominated the Republican race for months and leads many opinion polls. It was seen as a bold gamble.
