“I’m going to be making a decision with Fox, but I probably won’t bother doing the debate”, Trump said at a press conference in Iowa Tuesday night.
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Lewandowski told The Washington Post’s Philip Rucker that Trump is out and there is nothing Fox News can do to change Trump’s mind.
Even Fox News CEO Roger Ailes spoke up for Kelly.
The stage is set for Thursday’s Fox News Channel’s final debate ahead of the Iowa caucuses – but front-runner Donald Trump may not be there.
At a campaign stop Tuesday in Fairfield, Iowa, Cruz accused Trump of being afraid of mean questions from Kelly and said skipping the debate was tantamount to refusing to be interviewed for a job. He also went off on Kelly while also leaving the door open for some last-minute maneuvers when host Wolf Blitzer asked if he’d be showing up for the event.
A boycott could prove risky for Trump as Iowa Republicans seek to take one more look at who they want as their presidential candidate.
He added, “I don’t’ think Iowa’s gonna care”.
“I have bonded with the people of Iowa…I don’t think Iowa is going to care”, Trump said of his absence from the last debate before the February 1 Iowa caucuses. “I might be the best thing that ever happened to her, who ever even heard of her before the last debate?”
Trump has also threatened to participate in two previous debates but showed up.
“I told Fox you should give money to the Wounded Warriors”, Trump said. Trump told reporters. “The Democrats are finished with their debates….”
The poll, which was embedded in Trump’s tweet, showed a near-split between respondents who felt he should attend the debate (52 per cent) and those who felt he should skip it (48 per cent).
Donald Trump’s feud with Fox News continued on Tuesday after he sent out a Twitter poll asking his followers whether he should participate in the debate if Megyn Kelly is a moderator.
Trump said he was outraged by a “wiseguy” Fox press release that mocked him earlier in the day.
But now it looks like Trump wasn’t bluffing. Marco Rubio (R-Florida), Ohio Gov. John Kasich (R), and New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie (R) at Thursday’s debate.
Other Republicans, like former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani and Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad, have come out against Cruz, too.
As of press time, a slim majority of voters in the Twitter poll – 51% – said he should participate.
Cruz allies have circulated no fewer than six anti-Trump ads in recent days, the bulk of the advertising coming from super political action committees in a billionaire-funded network called Keep the Promise.
On Monday, Trump didn’t hold back his contempt towards the host of “The Kelly File”.
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Trump says Kelly is biased and shouldn’t be allowed to moderate. “As the potential leader of the free world, you have to be able to face scrutiny”, said Paula Faris.
