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 "Donald Trump's vitriolic attacks against Megyn Kelly and his
extreme, sick obsession with her is beneath the dignity of a
presidential candidate," the conservative cable news network wrote
in a statement.
"Megyn is an exemplary journalist and one of the leading anchors in
America — we’re extremely proud of her phenomenal work and continue
to fully support her throughout every day of Trump’s endless barrage
of crude and sexist verbal assaults."
The statement from Fox, which is part of the Rupert
Murdoch-controlled Twenty-First Century Fox Inc, comes in response
to a recent onslaught of negative comments from Trump to Kelly,
resparking a months-long feud between the two.
The quarrel began in August when, during a Fox News-hosted
Republican debate, Trump blasted Kelly over questions she posed to
him regarding his history with women, including his references to
some women he didn't like as "dogs" and "fat pigs."
 Trump upped the ante shortly thereafter, saying that Kelly had
become so incensed, "you could see there was blood coming out of her
eyes. Blood coming out of her - wherever," which many viewed as
Trump insinuating that Kelly was menstruating.
The Trump campaign later issued a statement saying that by "her
wherever," Trump meant Kelly's nose.
Still, the damage had been done, and the relationship between the
billionaire businessman and the longtime Fox News anchor has
remained strained.
Beginning Tuesday, Trump took to Twitter to blast Kelly, tweeting
and retweeting a series of messages referring to her as "Crazy
Megyn," and calling for supporters to boycott her weeknight news
program, "The Kelly File."
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"Everybody should boycott the @megynkelly show. Never worth
watching. Always a hit on Trump! She is sick, & the most overrated
person on tv," Trump tweeted on Friday.
Fox News responded by saying: "As the mother of three young
children, with a successful law career and the second highest rated
show in cable news, it’s especially deplorable for (Kelly)to be
repeatedly abused just for doing her job.”
The Trump campaign stood by the negative tweets, calling Kelly
"highly overrated" in a statement, and accusing her of biased
reporting.
"Unlike Megyn Kelly, who resorts to putting out statements via FOX
News, Mr. Trump will continue to defend himself against the
inordinate amount of unfair and inaccurate coverage he receives on
her second-rate show each night," the campaign said.
(Reporting by Alana Wise; Editing by Leslie Adler)
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