By Arun Kumar
Washington, May 19 (IANS): Donald Trump called her a "lightweight" and a "bimbo" and, after a dustup back in August, he set the twitter afire by saying "You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her, wherever."
Nine months after their 'katti' (not on talking terms) since that famous feud with the now presumptive Republican nominee, fearless Fox anchor Megyn Kelly set out for a face-off with the "boor", as the venerable Time has called the Manhattan mogul, in his own lair.
No apologies were "given, required or requested" as the not so presidential but never boring nominee sat down for what was billed as a tête-à-tête with "no restrictions" to be aired on her own new special show "Megyn Kelly Presents" on another big primary night. As anchors reported breathlessly about another close encounter between a "bad delegate math" Bernie Sanders and a presidential but boring Hillary Clinton or Trump again crushing a non-existent opposition, it was "Kelly vs Trump" night on the tube.
As pundits pontificated on another Trump bombshell about his willingness to speak with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un or a petrified Republican boss Reince Priebus asking Mitt Romney to abort his suicidal mission to stop Trump, "KT" won the battle of eyeballs hands down.
Kelly said she did not want it to be about her, but sitting across the billionaire in Trump Tower, she invited him to "talk about us" revisiting her question that had ignited their fued about him calling "the women you don't like 'fat pigs,' 'dogs,' 'slobs' and 'disgusting animals.' "
An almost shy Trump said softly he felt it had not been fair, before Kelly jumped in: "You know, it's not a cocktail party" only to have the mogul acknowledge the debate "might have been a favour" to him by preparing him for the worst.
Kelly also complained about Trump calling her a bimbo. "Well, that was a retweet," he said and asked sheepishly, "Did I say that?"
"Yeah. Many times," Kelly shot back. "Ooh. OK. Excuse me," Trump grinned.
Kelly grinned back.
"It's not about me. It's not about me. It's about the messaging. To young girls and to other women," she said. Trump responded in typical fashion that he was a counter puncher and "It's a modern day form of fighting back."
Surely he could have been a little more "presidential," and used different language at times, said Trump. "But if I would not have fought back the way I fought back, I don't think I would have been successful."
There were also a "rapid fire round" with Kelly asking Trump about his favourite movie-"Citizen Kane" - and book besides the Bible or "The Art of the Deal". He said he does not get much time to read these days, but it's "All Quiet on the Western Front."
"I like our relationship right now," said Trump as they parted company with a firm handshake with her thanking him for plugging her new book set for release a week after the November 8 presidential poll so as not to influence the outcome!
Trump even tweeted a compliment after the telecast saying in part: "Well, that is it. Well done Megyn --- and they all lived happily ever after!"
He did not quite say it but he might as well have tweeted, "You could see there was honey coming out of her lips, honey coming out of her wherever!"