(CNN) — When Donald Trump suggested Carly Fiorina’s face would make her unelectable, he wasn’t talking about her looks. He says he was talking about her “persona.”
“I’m not talking about looks. I’m talking about persona,” Trump told CNN’s Chris Cuomo on “New Day” Thursday morning.
That’s how Trump defended the remarks he made about his fellow GOP presidential contender that appeared in a Rolling Stone profile published Wednesday.
“Look at that face!” Trump said while sitting with a Rolling Stone reporter as Fiorina appeared on TV. “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’posedta say bad things, but really, folks, come on. Are we serious?” Trump said, according to the magazine.
Trump did not refute the accuracy of the quote.
Fiorina declined the opportunity to punch back Wednesday night on Fox News with Megyn Kelly, perhaps preferring instead to let Trump roll around in his own controversy.
“Well,I think those comments speak for themselves,” Fiorina said. “Honestly, Megyn, I’m not going to spend a single cycle wondering what Donald Trump means.”
But then, sensing an opportunity, Fiorina added: “Maybe — just maybe — I’m getting under his skin a little bit, because I am climbing in the polls.”
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