Eliza Collins
Politico
Donald Trump continued his Twitter attacks on journalists Thursday, this time saying that RedState founder Erick Erickson was fired “like a dog.”
“Wow, great news! I hear @EWErickson of Red State was fired like a dog. If you read his tweets, you'll understand why. Just doesn't have IT!” Trump tweeted.
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Not so fast, says Erickson: He wasn’t fired.
“Not only is it factually not true, it is also defamatory. Like President Obama, Donald Trump gets his news several days late and still gets the facts wrong. I emailed my bosses on June 3rd telling them I was resigning. I agreed to stay until the end of the year at their request,” Erickson said in a statement to POLITICO. “If I was fired, I don’t think they’d have me stay till December and also ask me to chair the host committee for next year’s RedState Gathering.”
“Wow. Donald Trump lives in a universe where even dogs are fired,” Erickson shot back at Trump on Twitter.
Erickson said that he thinks Trump’s tweet showed that “the man holds some grudges.” In August, Trump was uninvited to the RedState gathering in Atlanta (nine other GOP candidates attended) after some controversial comments about Fox News host Megyn Kelly.
“I think Donald Trump lives in his own world and I think it’s increasingly showing in his statement on Megyn Kelly and whatnot. He just kind of marches to the beat of his own drummer,” Erickson told POLITICO. “I think [his tweet is] definitely designed in some way to try and call into question my credibility.”
On Monday, RedState's Leon Wolf told POLITICO he began to transition into the new role as managing editor. Erickson will stay on through the end of the year before leaving to focus on his radio career. Wolf said the door is always open for Erickson to contribute in the future.
“Erick has not been fired," Wolf said. "I can tell you with 100 percent certainty: If he wanted to stay forever at RedState, he would be wholly welcome to stay,” Wolf said. “It was Erick’s decision to leave. He was not fired. No one pushed him out the door.”
“It’s sad to go," Erickson said. "I’ve been there for 10 years, but I don’t have an ownership interest in it anymore. I know my future is in radio."
Read more:
http://www.politico.com/story/2015/10/erick-erickson-reacts-donald-trump-214563#ixzz3o0hEWKe0
