This isn’t the first time Trump has been demanding money to appear at debates; he tried to force CNN to pay him $5 million to appear in a debate past year.
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In fact, debate viewership actually went up without the businessman and former reality star on stage. “But he’s an anchor baby – No, Ted Cruz is an anchor baby in Canada”. Trump predicted Fox’s rating would tank without him.
“We’re leading in the Iowa polls now, and leading pretty good”. In a somewhat drastic overstatement, Mr. Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, had said the ratings number for the Fox News debate, without Mr. Trump, would drop to “one to two million people”.
And he’s hoping that Republicans who are terrified of having Cruz or Trump as their nominee will help lift him back into contention and head to New Hampshire with a head of steam after Monday’s caucuses.
Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks as the crowd applauds during a campaign stop at the Radisson Hotel in Nashua, N.H., on Friday. “Donald Trump has chosen not to attend”, said Megyn Kelly, moderator.
Trump said his event had drawn more of a media presence, and said they’d raised more than $5 million for his personal foundation, including $1 million of his own funds, which will be distributed to veterans’ groups. Ted Cruz, (R) presidential candidate.
Cruz, Bush and Rubio were joined on the main debate stage by retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, Ohio governor John Kasich and Kentucky Senator Rand Paul. Her sentiments were echoed by multiple candidates, including Ted Cruz who called everyone else “ugly” in his opening statement and asserted his masculinity in order to “get the Trump portion out of the way”.
Intensifying his attacks on Mr Cruz, Mr Trump’s use of the term highlighted the Texas Senator’s birthplace in Canada.
“Welcome to debate night Americana style, a nation in the balance”, Colbert said on the “Late Show with Stephen Colbert”.
Despite Trump’s absence, Thursday’s debate was the second-largest audience ever for a Fox News telecast, beaten only by the first Republican presidential debate in 2015 with 24 million viewers.
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“I kid when I say this, but you may be feeling badly … you may have lost your job, you may be in a major state of depression”, Trump said.
