ArcaMax

Yet, the businessman has a long and colorful history of especially harsh and personal attacks on women who stand up to him. His locker-room poke at Kelly was obviously an attempt to take the cable-news star down a peg or two.

Now, in hindsight, Kelly's question about Trump's treatment of women was proper, perceptive and prescient. She read him right.

In assessing presidential candidates, Americans need to know a lot more than just positions on issues and his or her view of government. They need to be able to determine character. They have to see how he or she will respond under pressure. Most of all, they need to be confident that the candidate is guided by solid principles and dedicated to causes larger than his or her own ambition.

In dealing with the media, and especially his attack on Kelly, Trump has shown himself to be a first-class narcissist who takes criticism personally and responds in kind. He is good at playing the victim, refusing to say he is sorry and instead demanding that Kelly apologize to him for the question.

This week, on her first show since the flap, Kelly declared that she was moving on and would certainly "not apologize for doing good journalism."

I'm glad Kelly didn't back down. This was good journalism. The ensuing dustup proved it.

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Ruben Navarrette's email address is ruben@rubennavarrette.com.

Copyright 2015 Washington Post Writers Group