On the opening of the second day of the RedState event, Erickson announced to the gathered crowd: "If you haven't heard, I disinvited Donald Trump." Trump's comments were made on the heels of intense questioning from Kelly during the recent GOP debate forum. During that forum, Kelly asked Trump how he could reconcile himself with women after he called them "Fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals." Trump stated that he only had made disparaging remarks about one woman, Rosie O'Donnell; but Kelly disagreed and said that Trump had included several women in his insulting remarks. Trump then said that Kelly was not being "nice" to him and stated that he could choose not be to nice to her because of the way she was treating him.
Trump also made a veiled threat against the GOP and its eventual Presidential nominee, by raising his hand to signify that he could not promise that he would not run as a third party candidate if he is not the nominee. Trump also told his colleagues on the panel that he hoped that they would be nice to him. Trump then jokingly remarked that he only could promise not to run as a third party candidate if he is the GOP nominee. He stated that he is out to "win," and that he hoped to do so as a Republican, leaving the door open to run as a third party candidate if necessary to win.
In response to Chris Wallace's question to Trump about his comments that the Mexican government is sending rapists, drug dealers and criminals to the United States, Trump retorted back, stating that if it were not for him, that we "wouldn't even be talking about Mexican immigrants." Wallace then asked Trump to face Jeb Bush and explain to him his derogatory comments about Mexican immigrants to which Bush objected and to reveal his evidence that the Mexican government is sending its worst citizens across the border. Wallace then gave Trump 30 more seconds to answer his question and cite his evidence. Trump said that he had gone to the border and talked to border guards and that they had confirmed that this is what is happening whether Wallace "likes it or not."
Trump has been leading among the GOP candidates in the polls. His appeal to date has been his propensity to speak his mind and not hold back. It still is unknown what effect his debate performance and his exclusion from the RedState event will have on his polling numbers. As if his litany of insults for virtually everybody was not enough, Trump tweeted an extremely inflammatory remark about Kelly:
"Fox News gives low marks to the bimbo." Trump's tweet did not explain what kind of marks Fox News gave him for his debate performance. The only poll that really matters is the one on election day, and the GOP primary voters in the respective states will have their say in the coming months.
