A major US conservative forum has
dropped Donald Trump as a speaker, saying it was unacceptable for him to
suggest that a journalist was tough on him because she was
menstruating.
Mr Trump said Megyn Kelly of Fox News "had blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever".
Ms Kelly challenged him on remarks he made about women during a TV debate.
Red State said Mr Trump was implying she was hormonal, though Mr Trump later denied this in a tweet.
"Re Megyn Kelly quote: 'you could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever' (NOSE)," he wrote.
Mr
Trump was one of 10 Republican presidential candidates in a TV debate
co-hosted by Ms Kelly on Thursday, which was watched by a record 24
million people.
Early on in the debate, Ms Kelly asked him why
voters should elect a man who has called women "fat pigs, dogs, slobs
and disgusting animals".
Mr Trump joked that he only said that
about TV personality Rosie O'Donnell before adding: "I don't have time
for total political correctness."
After the debate, he took to Twitter to say Ms Kelly had "really bombed" and that she hadn't been "very good or professional".
He
continued his attack on CNN on Friday night, saying Ms Kelly was "a
lightweight" and that he "couldn't care less about her", before making
the comment about blood.
He
had been scheduled to deliver the keynote address on Saturday night at a
conference in Atlanta organised by Red State, an influential
conservative group.
But on Saturday, Red State chief Erick
Erickson said he had rescinded My Trump's invitation because his
comments on CNN had been "a bridge too far".
In a statement,
he said Mr Trump connected with many Republicans because he is
outspoken but that "there are even lines blunt talkers [...] should not
cross".
"It is unfortunate to have to disinvite him. But I just
don't want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and
his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal," he added.
"There is no way to otherwise interpret Mr Trump's comment," he said.
Mr
Erickson, a powerful conservative activist, said he had invited Ms
Kelly to take Mr Trump's place but was unsure if she would be able to
attend.
Carly Fiorina, the only female Republican candidate,
joined the criticism of Mr Trump, tweeting "There. Is. No. Excuse"
shortly after the CNN interview.
Mr Trump's campaign responded to
Red State's move by saying it was "another example of weakness through
being politically correct".
He is ahead of the 16 other
Republican candidates in several recent polls despite making several
controversial remarks since launching his president campaign. Meet all the 2016 hopefuls Top Trump quotes from debate Debate's winners and losers
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