Donald Trump says Megyn Kelly's sudden absence from the Fox News Channel is likely related to the controversy that erupted when she grilled him on his comments about women during last week's Republican presidential debate.
Appearing Friday on "The Steve Malzberg Show" on
Newsmax TV, the billionaire developer said "there probably was" something to the fact that Kelly is now on a week-and-a-half vacation, but added he didn't know the details.
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The Fox News star — who will return to air on Aug. 24th —said she hadn't had a vacation in six months and was taking off to spend time "with my husband and my kids trying to relax."
"Yes, people were very, very surprised that all of a sudden she decided to go away for 10 or 11 or 12 days but that's OK. Some people make those quick decisions," Trump said.
"I hope she's well and I hope she's feeling fine. I hope she comes back and she's going to be fair and good and I'm sure that will happen.
"I'm sure [Fox News President] Roger [Ailes] will make it happen because he's a fair guy and he wants things to run smoothly."
Trump was infuriated by Kelly's opening salvo to him during last week's debate, in which she said: "Mr. Trump, one of the things people love about you is you speak your mind and you don't use a politician's filter. However, that is not without its downsides, in particular, when it comes to women. You've called women you don't like fat pigs, dogs, slobs, and disgusting animals."
Afterwards, Trump retaliated, saying: "I don't have a lot of respect for Megyn Kelly, she came out, reading her script, trying to be tough and sharp … When you meet her you realize she is not very tough or very sharp. She is zippo …"
"She gets out. Starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You can see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever — but in my opinion, she was off base."
Trump's "blood" remark was seen by some as a sexist comment about Kelly's menstrual cycle. But Trump insisted her was talking about her nose.