Earlier in the evening, Cruz responded to a question about Trump’s boycott by channeling the real-estate magnate himself during the debate.
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As you’re well aware, Donald Trump has elected to forego tomorrow’s Fox News debate in Iowa, having failed to bully the network into removing Megyn Kelly as a moderator.
Cruz spent his day in Iowa trying to avoid a war of words with Trump, who accused him of being nervous and a “total mess”.
“Not only would this be a heck of a debate, but it would also be a terrific opportunity to generate millions of dollars for the veterans”, the donors backing the Super PACs said in a joint statement.
“Ben, you’re a bad surgeon”, Cruz said.
The GOP frontrunner is planning to hold a “special event” to raise money for veterans at the same time Fox hosts the final primary debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses.
In polls, Mr Trump is now leading the Republican pack in Iowa with 33.2 percent of the vote (6.5 percentage points above his nearest rival, Texas Senator Ted Cruz), and is in the lead nationally with 36.2 percent (16.8 points over Mr Cruz). Late Wednesday, Trump tweeted that it was Fox’s mocking press release that inspired him to skip the debate, more so than Kelly. Rush Limbaugh says yes, “by not showing up, he’s owning the entire event”; Newt Gingrich says no, Trump’s making “a substantial mistake, creating a vacuum and a new dynamic where someone could emerge”.
While Trump’s foundation has given little to vets, he did donate $1 million to New York City’s The Friends of the Vietnam Veterans Plaza in 2008, according to the New York Times.
It’s a complicated question for the seven presidential candidates in the seventh prime time Republican presidential debate, who expect a no-show from the front-runner who has eclipsed the contest for months – on the brink of Monday’s Iowa caucuses. His decision to boycott the event came after he asked Fox News to remove Kelly as a moderator.
Meanwhile, Trump’s absence gives Cruz a chance to make his case without broadsides from Trump, particularly on the issue of whether Cruz’s birth in Canada makes him ineligible for the presidency.
“Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist and the entire network stands behind her”, Ailes told the Post.
Flanking Cruz on stage will be six other top candidates: Marco Rubio, Ben Carson, Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, John Kasich and Rand Paul. “They’re some of the most under-appreciated, under-supported people in the country”. One of the ads attacking Trump over his previous views in favor of abortion was particularly effective, especially in Iowa where conservative evangelicals constitute a significant proportion of caucus-goers.
His campaign sought to capitalize on the good news, fund-raising on Twitter after his inclusion was announced on Fox News.
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Fox balks at the comment saying Kelly has no conflict and that “Donald Trump is just trying to build up the audience for Thursday’s debate, for which we thank him”.
