I have to get the boy ready for a birthday party so I can’t give this the treatment it deserves right now. But what everyone is talking about today is Donald Trump’s suggestion that Megyn Kelly was menstruating during the recent debate and that is why she asked him tough questions, particularly about his treatment of women. At least some people think this was a bridge too far and will actually hurt him with the people who matter, by which I mean the people who watch Fox News:
“Unlike undocumented immigrants, John McCain or Rosie O’Donnell, the Fox News anchor enjoys a huge following among the network’s viewers, who happen to make up the core of the Republican primary electorate. So picking a fight with Kelly — as Trump did when he chided her during a tough debate question about insults he’s lobbed at women, dissed her in the spin room, and tweeted his complaints about her — carries risks that Trump’s other feuds do not.”
The right didn’t care when Trump attacked Rosie O’Donnell or others savaged Candy Crowley, but Megyn Kelly is the sexual fantasy of every male conservative in the country and they all secretly believe that they can have sex with her if they can just impress her enough with their chivalric defenses of her honor.
The most extreme case of this is Erick Erickson, who has lost more than one job for saying intemperate things and is known for brutal criticisms of men and women alike. He disinvited Donald Trump to his Red State shindig (leading reporters to head back to the airport for home) and invited Megyn Kelly to come to his place in Trump’s stead. I am sure that he believes his chances with Kelly have now risen above zero, but that is not the case.
It’s always high school with these people.
If Megyn Kelly were old, fat, or ugly these same folks would laugh their heads off about Trump’s joke. But they all want to impress her, so they’re falling over each other to show the most outrage.
This is actually insulting. Megyn Kelly is a smart, ambitious and accomplished woman, and she doesn’t need these penny ante knights in shining armor to pretend that they respect professional woman or female journalists. She knows that they don’t.
