And two super PACs supporting Cruz promised to donate $1.5 million to charities serving military veterans if Trump agreed to a head-to-head showdown.
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“We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly”, Fox News said in a statement about Trump’s boycott.
Trump’s decision, though, could create an opening for his rivals – an opening Cruz quickly seized by proposing he and Trump both ditch the RNC-sanctioned Fox News debate in favor of a head-to-head contest.
“If he thinks Megyn Kelly is so scary, what exactly does he think he’d do with Vladimir Putin?”
Trump’s absence was likely to turn attention to Cruz, a firebrand conservative disdained by many in his party, and Rubio, who is hoping a third-place finish in Iowa could help him establish himself as the choice of more traditional Republicans.
Wednesday morning, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski predicted on “Good Morning America” that “the American people will tune in” for Trump’s alternative event “because they want to support that”.
Scarborough also said on his show that Trump’s feud with Fox was just the latest in a string of firestorms Trump has ignited in order to manipulate the media. “He’s probably going to be the front-runner”, Scarborough said of Trump at another point in his show. “He is smart, he is bold, much like you, he is not afraid to upset people to do the right thing. He doesn’t want to answer questions from the men and women of Iowa about how his record doesn’t match what he’s selling”. Without Trump on the stage, does Cruz adopt the posture of the de facto debate leader?
The Republican front-runner boldly announced Tuesday that he will boycott the last GOP presidential debate before the first contest of the primary cycle – denying Iowans their last opportunity to judge the leading Republican hopefuls side-by-side before the Iowa caucuses and potentially shaking up the dynamics of the presidential race just days before that contest.
Republican presidential candidates take the debate stage Thursday night absent their front-runner, Donald Trump, who will instead seek to starve his rivals of attention at a critical juncture in the campaign by holding a competing event of his own. “We need strong policies from candidates, not to be used for political stunts”, he said.
Florida Sen. Marco Rubio said Republicans “don’t have time for these kinds of distractions”.
“Frankly, you know, in the past, anytime somebody thought he did something that cost him, it didn’t cost him”, Kass said.
According to Newsmax, Trump ultimately backed out of moderating the organization’s debate, as he was considering a potential 2012 presidential campaign of his own.
No other information was provided, with the statement only saying “additional details to follow”.
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Mr Trump and his campaign manager criticised the statement as taunting and juvenile. If it had been me – and this is easy to say – if it had been me and Donald Trump makes a big to-do about not showing up for the debate, report the story and move on. But just from the standpoint of knowing Trump, reading his book, and seeing how he operates elsewhere, in his mind, screw the rules, screw what’s expected, screw ‘This is just the way you do it.’ I’m not gonna put myself in a position [to] go where I’m gonna be treated unfairly.
