Kathy Griffin: Trump Is 'a Bully'

Kathy Griffin has been under fire from all sides since posing for photos in which she held what appeared to be President Trump's severed head—but on Friday, she fired back. "I'm not afraid of Trump," she said during a press conference with civil-rights lawyer Lisa Bloom, per USA Today. "He's a bully." She said she apologized for the photo because it was "the right thing to do," but the ensuing criticism has become "a mob mentality pile-on." Bloom said Griffin, whose photo was taken by Tyler Shields, never expected the photo to be interpreted as a threat against Trump. Rather, it was meant to parody Trump's "blood coming out of her wherever" comment about Megyn Kelly; indeed, Griffin captioned the photo, "There was blood coming out of his wherever." More on the photo fallout:

• Click here for the full video of the press conference, in which Griffin went from crying and worrying aloud her career is over to proclaiming, "He wants to mess with me? He picked the wrong redhead!"
• Not everyone is calling Griffin out: Both Jim Carrey (who called comedians the "last line of defense" against Trump) and Jamie Foxx (who said the world needs comedians) are defending her.
• But the GOP is milking anti-Griffin sentiment for all its worth. The Hollywood Reporter has video of an attack ad from a Republican super PAC using Griffin in its argument against a Democratic congressional candidate.
• One of the early critics of Griffin was First Lady Melania Trump; the Washington Post notes that it's a rare public rebuke from Melania, who doesn't often issue statements of any sort.
• The Post also explains why this stunt shouldn't surprise us, based on Griffin's career and history in the spotlight.
• Over at the Huffington Post, Jack Moline says we shouldn't make excuses for what Griffin did, but argues that Trump himself is partially responsible for the overarching problem—"the normalization of bad behavior" in today's society, which now reaches all the way up to the White House.
• For anyone keeping count, Griffin has now lost her CNN gig, a Squatty Potty deal, a promotional gig for Sen. Al Franken, and at least five upcoming performances.

(More Kathy Griffin stories.)