Don’t give me any special treatment - so says Carly Fiorina, the only woman among 17 Republican candidates

Former Hewlett-Packard chief executive Carly Fiorina bristles at the suggestion that she gets any special treatment as the sole woman among the 17 Republicans running for president. But at the same time, as she seeks to shore up support in the polls, she has made a point of vocally wading into GOP gender controversies.

 Fiorina was among the first candidates to criticise Donald Trump over his attacks against Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly following their testy exchanges in last week’s debate. It was the second time in recent days that Fiorina has seized upon a gender-based controversy, as she tries to raise her profile to qualify for the next presidential debate.

 “Mr. Trump. There. Is. No. Excuse,” Fiorina tweeted late on Friday after Trump said “there was blood coming out of [Kelly’s] eyes, blood coming out of her wherever,” widely interpreted as Trump saying Kelly’s aggressive questioning was driven by menstruation, though Trump’s campaign denied it.

 On Thursday, Fiorina said that former Florida governor Jeb Bush’s questioning of the amount of federal spending on women’s health care offered ammunition to Democrats who want to paint Republicans as anti-women.

 “It’s disappointing,” Fiorina said. “I spent all of last year with a lot of other conservatives pushing back effectively against the war on women. It’s really disappointing when a frontrunner gives the Democrats an ad and a talking point.”

 Bush later said he misspoke and was talking only about federal funding of Planned Parenthood.