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Donald聽Trump聽opened his mouth again and found the door closed to him Saturday at a high-profile gathering of conservative activists.

His latest incendiary comment, about one of the Fox News moderators from Thursday's first Republican presidential debate, led to a scolding by some of his rivals and the party, and condemnation by organizers of the RedState Gathering.

Trump's聽absence from Saturday's program threatened to overshadow appearances by a number of his rivals, including former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush.

The billionaire businessman lashed out against Fox News' Megyn Kelly for her questions during the campaign's first debate. She had asked the candidate about his use of derogatory language toward women and whether it reflected the "temperament of a man we should elect as president."

Referring to Kelly's questions,聽Trump聽told CNN in an interview late Friday, "There was blood coming out of her eyes, blood coming out of her wherever."

Soon after the interview aired, RedState's Erick Erickson booted聽Trump聽from the event's Saturday lineup. In U.S. politics,

"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," Erickson wrote on the RedState website. The website takes its name from electoral maps which depict Republican-leaning states in red.

Erickson said that "while Mr.聽Trump聽resonates with a lot of people with his bluntness, including me to a degree, there are just real lines of decency a person running for president should not cross."

Trump's聽campaign was incensed 鈥� and unbowed.

"This is just another example of weakness through being politically correct. For all of the people who were looking forward to Mr.聽Trump聽coming, we will miss you. Blame Erick Erickson, your weak and pathetic leader," according to a campaign statement.

In a follow-up statement Saturday morning,聽Trump's聽camp intensified the personal attack against Erickson, slammed Kelly again and contended that the candidate's precise words on CNN were "blood was coming out of her eyes and whatever." That description deviated from the telephone interview that aired.

The campaign claimed that the 900 activists who had wanted to hear from聽Trump聽on Saturday evening were contacting the campaign to complain about Erickson and others who "are trying to be so politically correct. To them, Mr.聽Trump聽said, 'We will catch you at another time soon.'"

Two of聽Trump's聽rivals, former technology executive Carly Fiorina and Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, said there was no excuse for聽Trump's聽words about Kelly. They said they stood with the journalist.

The Republican National Committee, treading carefully about the current front-runner for the 2016 nomination, called on聽Trump聽to "immediately clarify" his comment and said it would be "highly inappropriate" if聽Trump聽stood by his remarks.

Trump聽needs "to understand that he is seeking the presidency of the United States now and that words do matter," RNC spokesman Sean Spicer told NBC's "Today" show on Saturday.

"I'm hoping that Mr.聽Trump, because he does speak off the cuff, because he doesn't ascribe to political correctness, was speaking in a way that wasn't fully thought out," Spicer said.

If there was anything close to a consensus among activists at the event, it was that they still wanted to hear what Trump聽had to say.

"Personally, we need to make up our own minds if someone is stupid," said Jack Staver, a business consultant from Woodstock, Georgia. "If someone is going to fall on their face, let them do it for everyone to see. Maybe it will help us make up our minds in a primary like this."

Not wanting to give him that chance was Dulcy Forte, 68, of Austin, Texas, already turned off by聽Trump'ssuggestion that he might not support the eventual Republican nominee 鈥� if it's not him.

"I always thought Donald聽Trump聽was a little crude, but, more importantly, he's not a good Republican," Forte said.