Fiorina: Media spend ‘too much time’ on Trump

Carly Fiorina said on Thursday that journalists are spending too much time on Donald Trump’s antics during the GOP’s 2016 presidential race.

{mosads}“The media has spent way too much time talking about the entertainment aspects of this, the performance aspects of this,” she said on CNN’s “New Day.”

“The only people who ask me about Donald Trump is the media,” Fiorina said. “I hope that going forward we can have a more substantive discussion about what’s going on in Americans’ lives.”

Fiorina repeatedly clashed with Trump during Wednesday night’s televised GOP debate in Simi Valley, Calif.

She said the next morning that her analysis of the business tycoon’s performance is irrelevant, compared to what voters perceive.

“The audience has to decide what they think of Trump’s performance,” she said. “That’s not for me to say.”

Trump reversed course on his criticism of Fiorina’s appearance during Wednesday night’s contest, calling her a “beautiful woman” after mocking her face earlier this month.

Fiorina argued on Thursday that women receive an unfair amount of scrutiny for their physical appearance.

“It’s still different for women,” the former Hewlett-Packard CEO said. “It’s only a woman whose appearance is talked about for president, never a man.”

“Woman are half this nation,” Fiorina added. “That’s what woman understand. Somehow we still spend a lot of time talking about their appearance and not their qualifications.”

Fiorina then charged that, regardless of her gender, she is the best candidate for the Oval Office next year.

“Hopefully it’s pretty clear I am a fighter,” she said of her debate performance.

“This is going to be a fight. If you can’t fight on a debate stage, you can’t stand up and fight for the American people.”

Fiorina’s remarks come as Trump leads the race for next year’s GOP presidential nomination across multiple national polls.

Trump ranks first in that contest with 30.5 percent, while Fiorina places eighth with 3.3 percent, according to the latest RealClearPolitics average of samplings.