Donald Trump apologizes to no one. Not even to Roger Ailes.
The head of Fox News on Tuesday demanded an apology from the real estate mogul and Republican presidential candidate for his tweetstorm Monday night against Fox News host Megyn Kelly. “Donald Trump rarely apologizes, although in this case, he should,” Ailes said in a statement, calling the tweets “unacceptable” and “disturbing.”
Too bad, Trump responded. Here’s his statement, per Politico:
I totally disagree with the FOX statement. I do not think Megyn Kelly is a quality journalist. I think her questioning of me, despite all of the polls saying I won the debate, was very unfair. Hopefully in the future I will be proven wrong and she will be able to elevate her standards to a level of professionalism that a network such as FOX deserves.
Ailes’s statement is the first time the Fox News chairman has publicly reacted to Trump’s dispute with Kelly, which began in earnest earlier this month when Trump described Kelly’s tough line of questioning during the first GOP presidential debate.
“You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her—wherever,” he told CNN a day after the debate.
The backlash to that comment was huge. Many people, including other Republican presidential candidates and far-right leaning conservatives, called the verbal attack offensive. Trump, however, did not apologize.
Trump became the human embodiment of #sorrynotsorry for controversial remarks as soon as he entered the 2016 race in June. He refused to apologize for calling Mexicans who enter the U.S. illegally as “killers” and “rapists” in the speech announcing his candidacy. A month later, he refused to apologize for saying Senator John McCain—who served in Vietnam, where he broke both arms and legs when his aircraft was shot down and was tortured in a prison camp—was not “a war hero.” “Deal with it,” instructed Trump’s unwavering gaze on the cover of TIME magazine last week.
Trump explained his rules for apologizing to The Hollywood Reporter last week:
People say, “He won’t apologize for anything”—well, I was right on illegal immigration. [John] McCain blew it because he’s done a poor job of taking care of the veterans. And then the third element so far, you had Megyn Kelly, and I think you’ve seen what happened with that. I feel quite confident in my position. At the same time, I believe in apologizing. But to apologize for me is very difficult. I definitely would apologize if I were wrong on something.
Asked to recall the last thing he apologized for, Trump said: “It was too many years ago to remember. I have one of the great memories of all time, but it was too long ago.”
#sorrynotsorry, Roger.
We want to hear what you think about this article. Submit a letter to the editor or write to letters@theatlantic.com.
