Donald Trump’s attacks on Megyn Kelly have blown up into a fight with Fox News that led to his bailing on the network’s Republican debate Thursday.
How did we get to this sad day for America? Here’s a timeline:
Aug. 6, 2015: It all started when, during a Republican debate, Kelly listed all the derogatory terms the business mogul has used for women over the years, including, “fat pigs, dogs, slobs and disgusting animals.”
Aug. 7, 2015: Trump went on the attack soon after the debate ended, slamming Kelly on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/629557762427604992?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Aug. 7, 2015: The real estate mogul continues his attacks, telling CNN’s Don Lemon that the Fox News host had “blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” a comment that many interpreted as a reference to menstruation.
Oct. 7, 2015: In an interview with Charlie Rose, Kelly said that she was not looking to get into “any sort of war” with Trump.
Nov. 4, 2015: But that did little to calm Trump’s nerves.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/661897728432173056?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Early January: In a Vanity Fair article, Kelly described how Trump tried to woo her as he was getting ready to announce his bid for the White House. She said the former reality TV host “would send me press clippings about me that he would just sign ‘Donald Trump.’”
Jan. 12: In response, Trump renewed his attacks on Kelly, calling her “average in every way” and asking who would want to “woo” her.
Jan. 26: Trump told CNN that he’s “not 100 percent” set on going to Thursday’s debate and “Good Morning America” that he was still “making a decision.”
“I don’t think she’s professional at all,” Trump told ABC’s George Stephanopoulos of Kelly. “She’s very biased against me.”
Later, he polled his social media followers on whether or not he should participate.
The move drew a snarky, yet highly entertaining response from Fox News:
“We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president,” Fox News said in the statement to TheWrap on Tuesday, adding this gem: “A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”
Trump responded to Fox News’ statement, calling it a “pathetic attempt by Fox News to try and build up ratings for the #GOPDebate,” and adding: “Without me they’d have no ratings!”
His campaign then announced he was out.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/692115662899167236?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
Trump eventually released a full statement, while Kelly eventually said she would be “surprised” if he didn’t show.
Jan. 27 (today): Chris Wallace told us the media is too nice to Trump, and Ted Cruz started DuckingDonald.com. Trump will probably be on “The O’Reilly Factor” tonight and at least 34 Trump supporters have called Kelly the “C” word in the past 24 hours.