Introducing himself, he said: “I’m a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat and ugly”.
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Trump boycotted the debate in a snub to host Fox News, holding a competing event across town in Des Moines in a controversy that widened the rupture between his supporters and the Republican Party establishment.
Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, a co-moderator at the debate and one of Trump’s chief nemeses, began by asking Ted Cruz to address “the elephant not in the room tonight”.
‘We have to stick up for ourselves as people and we have to stick up for our country if we’re being mistreated’.
Trump at one point, according to the network, offered to appear at the debate – the final such event before the Iowa caucuses – if Fox contributed US$5 million to his charities.
But his absence on the stage in Des Moines, where seven of his rivals in the race to be Republican presidential nominee, was keenly felt.
The 69-year-old billionaire, who has been leading national and local polls among the crowded Republican candidates, said he chose to skip the debate because he was treated “very unfairly” by Fox News. A proponent of a more isolationist foreign policy, Paul also raised concerns about the USA getting involved militarily in Syria.
While the other candidates talk like candidates, he talks above them – like a president.
He also said that, given the potential for a shift in the party’s platform, “I’m not convinced we are a super blue state”.
On the campaign trail Wednesday, Cruz challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate, while mocking his rival for his decision to stay away.
Roger McConico of Golden Valley said he’s been waiting for Trump to exit the stage so that more traditional candidates could get down to business. The first vote hasn’t been counted. “And it is important to us as well, and so we’re working hard, and we’ll see how far we can get”.
It was unclear whether Trump’s unusual move would hurt his standing with Iowa voters. In fact, Rubio simply said that Trump just gave the others more time than what was previously allotted to them.
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Two of the Republican candidates who participated in the earlier debate on Fox, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Sen.
