Real estate mogul and 2016 GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump said Thursday he “probably” made comments many are interpreting as an attack on the appearance of GOP rival Carly Fiorina but that he was referring to Mrs. Fiorina’s persona, not her looks.
“Probably I did say something like that about Carly. I’m talking about persona, I’m not talking about look, although when I get criticized for my hair, which isn’t that bad — you know, you’ve seen me, right? It’s not that bad. Well, when I get criticized … about my hair, nobody does a story about, ’Oh, isn’t that terrible. They criticized Donald Trump’s hair,’ ” Mr. Trump said on “Fox and Friends.”
In a new Rolling Stone profile of Mr. Trump, the billionaire businessman is watching TV news with staffers when Mrs. Fiorina comes onscreen.
“Look at that face!” Mr. Trump says, according to the magazine. “Would anyone vote for that? Can you imagine that, the face of our next president?!”
“I mean, she’s a woman, and I’m not s’posed ta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” he continues in the piece.
Mrs. Fiorina dismissed the comments during a Wednesday evening appearance on Fox News’ “The Kelly File,” saying she might be getting under his skin because she’s climbing in the polls.
SEE ALSO: Donald Trump insults Carly Fiorina’s appearance in his Rolling Stone profile
“The fact is I probably did say that about Carly … in a jocular manner, obviously,” Mr. Trump said Thursday.
Mr. Trump said Mrs. Fiorina has been hitting him “constantly” and that he’s a “counter-puncher.”
“The persona, the persona,” he said. “And I say that. And I say that about a lot of people — I say, ’Look at that.’ Look — how does that … that’s not going to be our president,” he said.
Mr. Trump pointed out that he had said Mrs. Fiorina should be on the main debate stage in the upcoming GOP presidential debate “because, frankly, she’s doing better than Rand Paul and some of these other clowns that we have, and she should be on the stage.”
“And she actually said nice [things], but then she went right back to hitting Trump,” he said. “You know, they have to hit me because maybe that’s where the money is, who knows.”
• David Sherfinski can be reached at dsherfinski@washingtontimes.com.
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