Donald Trump seemed to suggest Megyn Kelly gave him a hard time at the GOP debate because she was on her period

Update: Trump has said he was referring to blood coming out of Kelly's nose

Not content with making sexist comments during the Republican primary debate, Donald Trump has followed up by suggesting host Megyn Kelly gave him a hard time because she had her period.

In case you missed it, moderator and regular Fox News host Megyn Kelly called Trump out on misogynistic comments he has made in the past during Thursday's debate between the GOP presidential candidates.

Trump tried to make light of the question but Kelly didn't let him off that easily, asking him to respond to Hillary Clinton's charge that Trump is "part of the war on women" - to which he responded with a patronisingly sexist remark about political correctness:

I don't have time for political correctness... What I say is what I say. And honestly, Megyn, if you don't like it, I'm sorry. I've been very nice to you, although, I could maybe not be based on the way you've treated me — but I wouldn't do that.

Trump appeared on CNN late on Friday night to talk about his debate performance where interviewer Don Lemon asked him about the Kelly spat. Trump's retort was that Kelly is a "lightweight" for whom he has "no respect", and what's more, she threw challenging questions his way because:

You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes. Blood coming out of her wherever.

In the hours after the debate, Trump also highlighted a comment from someone else on his Twitter feed calling Kelly a "bimbo", while he seemed to delight in claims she was being criticised.

Fellow Republican hopeful Carlio Fiorina, who was not in the main GOP debate but in an earlier one with candidates struggling in the polls, responded to Trump's "blood" remarks by tweeting:

Meanwhile, the editor of conservative political blog Red State found the remark so distasteful he has uninvited Trump from a Red State hosted event in Atlanta on Saturday.

In a statement, editor Erik Erikson wrote:

I have tried to give a great deal of latitude to Donald Trump in his run for the presidency. He is not a professional politician and is known for being a blunt talker... But there are even lines blunt talkers and unprofessional politicians should not cross. Decency is one of those lines.

I just don't want someone on stage who gets a hostile question from a lady and his first inclination is to imply it was hormonal. It just was wrong.

And how better to add insult to injury? Erikson has extended an invite to Megyn Kelly this weekend instead.

On Saturday Trump attempted to clear up his latest mess, tweeting that he had been referring to blood coming out of Kelly's nose rather than any other body part:

Nice try, Donald. Nice try.

More: Rosie O'Donnell had this to say about Donald Trump's sexist debate comments