The real problem with Donald Trump retweeting those provocative pictures of Megyn Kelly

Resize Text

Print Article

Book mark article

Read later list

Saved to Reading List

By frank ohajimadu January 28 at 4:44 PM

Republican Donald Trump is saying he "most likely" won't attend the debate Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly is set to co-moderate. Here's a look back at the clash that started with an earlier debate in August 2015.

The timeline is important here. So, please indulge us in a quick run-through.
First, Donald Trump spent decades developing a public persona that even his biggest fans would probably have to say is characterized by bombast, self-assigned superlatives and a seemingly endless supply of insults directed at others. He's gone on-record and on-camera with comments aimed at women that seem, time and time again, to center on their appearance -- or whether their combined appearance and behavior comport with his standards. Again, that's not really a matter of debate.
Then, Trump decided that the next logical turn in his life as a real estate mogul-turned-entertainer and reality TV star was a run for the White House. And then a female reporter, Fox's Megyn Kelly, thought it necessary to ask Trump at the first GOP debate about this history of talking about women and how it might affect his ability to get elected and to do the job. That question was, according to Trump, nasty and moved across some sort of line of propriety. As time moved on, that set of questions became evidence of some sort of utter bias that, according to Trump, should render Kelly ineligible to pose future questions in future debates. It was a line of questioning so bothersome that Trump will not even participate in Thursday night's debate, because Kelly's employer has refused to exclude her at Trump's request.

CAMPAIGN 2016 EMAIL UPDATES

Get the biggest election stories in your inbox.

In the hours since Trump announced that he would not participate in the debate, Trump and his many supporters have launched what can only be described as a campaign to demean, diminish and critique Kelly. And, at this point in the election cycle, frankly there can only be a few people who would expect anything different. Amidst this effort came a tweet originally sent out early Thursday morning by a Trump supporter operating under the Twitter handle @gene70. It was retweeted by Trump and subsequently liked or retweeted more than 10,000 times. It truly stood out.
You really must see it to believe and understand it fully.