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 Trump is under fire for criticizing Fox anchor Megyn Kelly during
and after a Republican debate on Thursday. Asked about Kelly in a
CNN interview on Friday, Trump said: "You could see there was blood
coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever."
The real estate mogul and television personality, who remains ahead
of his 16 rivals in the race for the 2016 Republican presidential
nomination, appeared on Sunday news shows to rebut the outrage
triggered by his off-the-cuff talk.
"I've had such an amazing relationship with women in business. They
are amazing executives. They are killers. They are phenomenal,"
Trump said on ABC's "This Week".
Asked if he thought he had gone too far, Trump said, "No, not at
all."
Trump told CNN he had "great relationships" with women and had hired
thousands, including many top-level employees, adding, "I cherish
women."
It has been a recurring pattern in the campaign: Trump makes an
offensive comment, incurs a firestorm of reaction and critics sound
the death knell for his campaign.
 So far, he has survived the backlash, including Republican anger
over his belittling the war hero status of U.S. Senator John McCain,
the party's 2008 nominee.
Trump was barred from an important gathering of conservative
activists on Saturday and drew another round of denunciations from
fellow Republicans.
Republican candidates Carly Fiorina, Scott Walker, Lindsey Graham,
Rick Perry, Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and George Pataki denounced his
comments about Kelly on Twitter or in statements. Former Florida
Governor Jeb Bush called on Trump to apologize.
"They were completely inappropriate and offensive comments. Period,"
Fiorina said Sunday on CNN's "State of the Union." "THIN-SKINNED"
Fiorina criticized Trump as having gotten angry at Kelly for
questioning his comments about women, including calling those he
disliked "fat pigs" and "slobs". "You cannot have a president who is
thin-skinned," the former Hewlett-Packard Co CEO said on CBS' "Face
the Nation."
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Trump said his comments about blood coming from Kelly were
misconstrued as a reference to menstrual blood or hormonal activity
and called that interpretation "deviant."
He said he meant to say "nose, ears" and was implying that she was
angry. "She asked me a very, very nasty question," he said on "This
Week."
Trump has repeatedly attacked his fellow candidates, accusing Perry,
the former Texas governor, of wearing glasses to look smarter and
calling Graham, a U.S. senator from South Carolina, an "idiot".
On Sunday, he attacked Fiorina on several shows as a failed
executive who got fired, then lost a bid for the U.S. Senate by a
landslide.
He lashed out at Bush as being "negative on women's health" for his
recent comments on funding for women's health programs that drew
immediate condemnation from Democrat Hillary Clinton.
He took credit for Fox News' record ratings of 24 million viewers
for the prime-time debate, saying of Bush: "The man has no energy."
Trump dismissed his critics as beholden to political correctness and
pointed to the opinion polls as proof that he was "winning big all
over the place".
(Additional reporting by Amanda Becker; Writing by Doina Chiacu;
Editing by Lisa Shumaker and Gareth Jones)
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