Production on Megyn Kelly's eponymous "The Kelly File" hadn't wrapped for more than a few hours Monday - her first show following a two-week vacation - before Donald Trump launched an unwarranted attack on the Fox News anchor.
"@megynkelly must have had a terrible vacation, she is really off her game. Was afraid to confront Dr. Cornel West. No clue on immigration!" read one Tweet. Another said Trump liked "The Kelly File" much better without its host. Trump also retweeted a tweet referring to Kelly as "The bimbo back in town."
Fox News colleagues, many who maintained silence when Trump said she had "blood coming out of her... wherever" following the Aug. 6 Republican presidential debate, came to Kelly's aid Tuesday morning, lambasting the front-running presidential candidate on Twitter.
Bret Baier said "THIS needs to stop," adding a #letitgo hashtag, and Sean Hannity asked Trump to leave Kelly alone, telling his "friend" to focus on jobs, border security, and Hillary Clinton.
Fox News CEO Roger Ailes released a statement calling for Trump to apologize for numerous tweets aimed at Kelly.
"Donald Trump's surprise and unprovoked attack on Megyn Kelly during her show last night is as unacceptable as it is disturbing," the statement read. "Megyn Kelly represents the very best of American journalism and all of us at FOX News Channel reject the crude and irresponsible attempts to suggest otherwise. I could not be more proud of Megyn for her professionalism and class in the face of all of Mr. Trump's verbal assaults."
Ailes admitted Trump seldom apologizes, but said "in this case, he should."
Trump's retort, released Tuesday afternoon, rejects Ailes' plea and questions Kelly's journalistic standards.
"I totally disagree with the FOX statement. I do not think Megyn Kelly is a quality journalist," Trump said. 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."
Trump then referenced strong polling numbers around the country, including a 30 percent approval rating in South Carolina; home to fellow GOP presidential candidate Lindsey Graham. The pair carries one of the liveliest feuds among contenders, with Trump releasing Graham's cell phone number and Graham saying Trump is "a complete idiot."
"He is shallow, he is ill-prepared to be commander-in-chief, he doesn't know what he is talking about in terms of how our laws work, he says the worst things possible about immigrants and women, and he's a complete idiot when it comes to Mideast policy," Graham said in a Tuesday morning interview with CNN. "So I think over time, common sense will prevail."
Graham added that a large portion of Trump supports, who he said believe President Obama is an Africa-born Muslim, are frustrated voters who are desperate for change.
Hours earlier, Trump mocked Graham's low approval rating in the senator's home state of South Carolina, sarcastically flaunting his 26-point lead.
Trump also poked fun at Florida Gov. Jeb Bush's insinuation that the term "anchor babies" applies to Asians. Bush and Trump continually spar over the solution to illegal immigration. Trump suggests building a wall along the U.S.-Mexico border he would force Mexicans to pay, along with a revised version of the U.S. Constitution where birthright citizenship would be revoked. Bush called the plan "unrealistic and not reflective of our values." "If that is the position put forth by our party's standard bearer, the result will be the election of Hillary Clinton and the continuation of the disastrous economic and foreign policies of Barack Obama," Bush said in a statement posted to his campaign website. CNN notes that Trump's mother and wives were each born outside the U.S. Nevertheless, Trump unloaded on Bush's immigration policy, at one point urging him to speak English and not "Mexican."