Nine Republican presidential hopefuls will now be in Atlanta this weekend for the 2015 RedState Gathering, following Erick Erickson's decision to disinvite Donald Trump.
Erickson, editor of RedState.com and host of Atlanta's Evening News on News 95.5 and AM-750 WSB every weeknight, is hosting the event. The get-together for conservative activists is taking place at the InterContinental Buckhead hotel.
Trump's feud with Megyn Kelly escalated Friday night when he said that the Fox News host had "blood coming out of her wherever" at this week's GOP debate. In light of The Donald's remarks about Kelly, Erickson told attendees at the RedState Gathering on Saturday that he no longer felt it was appropriate to have Trump at the event.
[ Listen to Erickson's statement on Trump here. ]
[ Click here to hear Erickson's interview with WSB's Jay Black. ]
Donald Trump was originally scheduled to appear at the College Football Hall of Fame on Saturday night. The press office for Trump's campaign has since released a statement and said that "only a deviant" would misinterpret the GOP candidate's comments on Megyn Kelly the way Erickson did.
"By the way, the guy (Erick Erickson) who made the decision about RedState called Supreme Court Justice David Souter a 'goat [expletive] child molester' and First Lady Michelle Obama a 'Marxist Harpy.' He was forced to make a humbling apology," Trump's team said.
"Also, not only is Erick a total loser, he has a history of supporting establishment losers in failed campaigns so it is an honor to be uninvited from his event. Mr. Trump is an outsider and does not fit his agenda.
"Many of the 900 people that wanted to hear Mr. Trump speak tonight have been calling and emailing - they are very angry at Erickson and the others that are trying to be so politically correct. To them Mr. Trump says, 'We will catch you at another time soon.'"
The Atlanta Journal Constitution's Washington correspondent Daniel Malloy has outlined the expected candidates and anticipated speaking times for the 2015 RedState Gathering:
Saturday Aug. 8
9:00 a.m. — former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee
11:30 a.m. — Texas Sen. Ted Cruz
1:30 p.m. — former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush
4:30 p.m. — Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker
Some 700 attendees and 150 journalists will be at the event.