During an appearance on Monday’s Kelly File on Fox News, Republican presidential candidate Carly Fiorina hit back at the Washington Post and MSNBC for accusing her of failing to pay back outstanding debt from her 2010 Senate campaign.
After Fiorina explained that “the debt has been paid off,” which “the Washington Post fails to mention entirely. See facts aren’t really what the Washington Post is into anymore.”
The Republican continued to scold the paper which “that gave me three Pinocchio’s for claiming I was a secretary. Yes, in fact, I was a secretary. That’s how I start. So, apparently they don’t care about the facts that I paid off the debt.”
Fiorina went even further and mocked liberal media’s outrage over her outstanding campaign debt and noted that the Post “never did write that article about Hillary Clinton’s debt, 40 times the amount carried over many years. I don’t recall Rachel Maddow being outraged about that.”
Host Megyn Kelly then brought up a Daily Beast article which claimed Fiorina’s foundation donated money to Planned Parenthood but the former Hewlett-Packard CEO criticized those in the press who would exploit the “non-issue”:
The Frank and Carly Fiorina Foundation is funded by our money, and we decide where that money goes. The fact that Ayco has some other client that apparently donated to Planned Parenthood, boy, all it would take is five seconds of reporting to figure out that this is a non-issue. But again, I don’t think facts are the point here at all. I don’t think the Washington Post has a lot of credibility. MSNBC I think speaks for itself.
When the interview eventually turned to Fiorina’s recent rise in the polls, the Republican called out the “liberal” media for opposing a woman because she's conservative:
[W]e know that most of the media is very liberal and we know that liberal women have trouble accepting that there are many, many women who don’t agree with them. And in fact, it’s liberal women unfortunately who believe that unless you follow their orthodoxy, Rachel Maddow is one, but Hillary Clinton is one, as well...
Actually note to Democrat Party, we’re half the nation. And so our views differ, just like men’s views differ, and yes, I think I am distinctly horrifying to liberals that I am a conservative woman who right now head-to-head beats Hillary Clinton soundly.
See relevant transcript below.
Fox News’ The Kelly File
October 5, 2015
MEGYN KELLY: Here now to respond, Republican Presidential Candidate and former Hewlett-Packard CEO Carly Fiorina, great to see you, Carly. So what does that tell you?
CARLY FIORINA: Oh, wow, wow. I don’t know even where to start with that jumble. But I think what it tells you honestly, Megyn, is there are a lot of liberals who find me kind of scary right now, because I am doing really well in the polls, and horror of horrors, I am a conservative woman.
KELLY: Uh-huh. And let’s just kick through a couple of those so you have the chance to respond. They were speaking about a Washington Post piece that was just outraged that you had campaign debt, they claim, from your Senate 2010 campaign that didn’t get paid off by your campaign. And Guy Benson offered an opinion online saying, I remember the Washington Post doing a similar article, front page article about Hillary Clinton’s failure to pay off her -- oh, wait, no, I don’t, no I don’t. But they’re very interested in your campaign’s failure. Having said that, is it true, did you not pay off the debt?
FIORINA: No, the debt has been paid off, which of course the Washington Post fails to mention entirely. See facts aren’t really what the Washington Post is into anymore. Remember, it was the Washington Post that gave me three Pinocchio’s for claiming I was a secretary. Yes, in fact, I was a secretary. That’s how I start. So, apparently they don’t care about the facts that I paid off the debt. They don’t care about revealing that the source of this story was campaign staff for a rival campaign. And no, they never did write that article about Hillary Clinton’s debt, 40 times the amount carried over many years. I don’t recall Rachel Maddow being outraged about that.
KELLY: What about this Ayco Foundation, that apparently is -- that manages your philanthropic fund. They’re ticked off that that group has clients that donate to Planned Parenthood.
FIORINA: Yeah, exactly. Really? The Frank and Carly Fiorina Foundation is funded by our money, and we decide where that money goes. The fact that Ayco has some other client that apparently donated to Planned Parenthood, boy, all it would take is five seconds of reporting to figure out that this is a non-issue. But again, I don’t think facts are the point here at all. I don’t think the Washington Post has a lot of credibility. MSNBC I think speaks for itself.
--KELLY: Is it harder for you -- do you think as a conservative woman, it’s harder for you, because I’m just looking at this New York Times article from last week, talking -- this is the quote, “It’s so weird,” this is somebody who watched the last debate, “She looks like one of us, but she’s not.” This is some woman who doesn’t like your stance on Planned Parenthood. I mean, the media, they don’t exactly love conservative women.
FIORINA: Well, exactly. That is the point, Megyn after all. Look, we know that most of the media is very liberal and we know that liberal women have trouble accepting that there are many, many women who don’t agree with them. And in fact, it’s liberal women unfortunately who believe that unless you follow their orthodoxy, Rachel Maddow is one, but Hillary Clinton is one, as well.
I mean, she’s the one who said about Joni Ernst when Joni Ernst was running for the Senate, she said well, it’s not enough to be a woman, you have to be a woman who believes. And then she went through her litany of liberal orthodoxy. Actually note to Democrat Party, we’re half the nation. And so our views differ, just like men’s views differ, and yes, I think I am distinctly horrifying to liberals that I am a conservative woman who right now head-to-head beats Hillary Clinton soundly.
