Fiorina Suggests She Makes Donald Trump Nervous

"Maybe I'm getting under his skin a little bit," Fiorina said.

ByABC News
September 23, 2015, 7:23 AM

— -- Is Carly Fiorina’s rise in the polls making Donald Trump nervous?

The former Hewlett-Packard CEO and Republican presidential candidate suggested that it might have something to do with why the current GOP front-runner has been attacking her on Twitter in recent days.

“It might seem that Donald Trump is getting a little nervous, maybe I’m getting under his skin a little bit,” Fiorina said when asked about Trump’s personal attacks against her during a media availability in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina Tuesday.

Fiorina has pulled into second place behind Trump in the latest CNN/ORC poll released following the second Republican debate, soaring to 15 percent from just 3 percent earlier this month, while Trump slipped 8 percentage points from 32 percent before the debate to 24 percent after.

On Monday, Trump took aim at Fiorina on Twitter, describing her business record as “horrible” and “terrible” and saying that she is “the last thing our country needs.”

Fiorina’s campaign has sought to capitalize on the Twitter wars with Trump, with Deputy Campaign Manager Sarah Isgur Flores emailing reporters on Tuesday with thoughts on the topic.

“We get the point, Mr. Trump. You're worried. You should be. You'll be seeing a lot more of that face,” Isgur Flores said in the email.

But the criticisms of Fiorina’s record at Hewlett Packard have not been contained to just Trump. The media has also raised questions about her record at the company, where she oversaw 30,000 layoffs prior to her eventual firing, and regularly asks Fiorina about her record and whether it is a distraction to her candidacy.

For her part, Fiorina says she welcomes the questions on her record – and also that of Trump’s.

“I am happy to run on the facts of my record and Mr. Trump is going to have to run on the facts of his record,” Fiorina told reporters Tuesday. “As I said during the debate all of us will be revealed over time and under pressure. And I think that’s fair for voters to see.”

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