Former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina said that Donald Trump was completely off base in his comments about Fox News’ Megyn Kelly and that they took her back to a more sexist era.
Explaining on CNN’s “State of the Nation” Sunday morning that she began her career as a secretary, “as I made my way up in the … male-dominated business world, I have had lots of men imply that I was unfit for decision making because maybe I was having my period,” she said in response to theories that Trump’s “blood” comments about Kelly’s questioning at Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate was a reference to menstruation.
“When I started this campaign, I was asked on a national television show whether a woman’s hormones prevented her from serving in the Oval Office,” Fiorina continued. “My response was, can we think of a single instance in which a man’s hormones might have clouded his judgment?”
“The truth … maybe in the Oval Office,” she said, alluding to previous presidents’ sexual dalliances in the White House.
“The point is, women understood that comment,” she said of Trump. “And yes, it [was] completely inappropriate and offensive … period.”
On a different women’s issue, Fiorina says she supports businesses that offer paid maternity leave but that she opposes the federal government requiring the private sector to offer it.
“I oppose the federal government mandating paid maternity leave to every company out there,” she said.
In response to Trump’s assertion that her firing from HP and 2010 drubbing by Sen. Barbara Boxer, D-Calif., disqualified her as a legitimate 2016 presidential contender, Fiorina did not deny that her split from HP was a mutual decision.
“Look, I led Hewlett-Packard through a very tough time … but despite those tough times, we took a company from $44 billion to almost $90 billion,” she explained. “Yes, I was fired. I have been open about that from the day it happened. I was fired in a boardroom brawl.”
“And you know why? Because I challenged the status quo,” which creates enemies, she said. “By the way, here’s some other people who got fired because they challenged the status quo: Steve Jobs, Oprah Winfrey, Walt Disney, Mike Bloomberg. I feel like I’m in pretty good company.”
Fiorina then took a negative that Boxer used against her — outsourcing — and tried to turn it into an asset.
“And you know what I think a lot of American voters think is, wouldn’t it be nice if, for once, we shrank the size of the federal government?” she asked. “Wouldn’t it be great, knowing, as we know, that you can sit in a federal government job and watch pornography all day long and earn the same pay, pension and benefits as somebody trying to do a good job — most Americans would say, that person ought to get fired.”
Fiorina said compared to Trump, she is the better business executive, because “you don’t get things done by insulting everyone.”
Fiorina also argued that she’s the better candidate to oppose Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton because the former secretary of state doesn’t have a track record and is untrustworthy, Fiorina said on “Fox News Sunday.”
Her well-received performance in the debate for second-tier candidates Thursday will catapult her into the top tier, she said, adding that donations to her campaign are up.
“We’ve seen an uptick in support generally and so, it’s very exciting,” she said.
She dismissed criticism that so far she hasn’t polled higher than 2 percent nationally.
“I would also remind you that at this time in previous presidential elections, the polls, pundits and money said that Jimmy Carter couldn’t win; Ronald Reagan couldn’t win; Bill Clinton couldn’t win and Barack Obama couldn’t win,” she said. “So, the truth is this race has just gotten started; and game on.”
