Donald Trump will not be Participating in Fox News’ GOP Debate
Donald Trump will not be participating in the GOP debate on Thursday night that is being hosted by FOX News.
The Republican frontrunner made his announcement on Tuesday, claiming that Fox News is only using him for the ratings and that host Megyn Kelly is too biased against him to carry out a fair debate.
"Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates?" Trump said during his news conference in Marshalltown. "Why do I have to make Fox rich?"
The real estate mogul added that Fox News is only "playing games" with him.
A part of Trump's statement read:
"Mr. Trump knows a bad deal when he sees one. ...Unlike the very stupid, highly incompetent people running our country into the group, Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and FOX News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn't play games. There have already been six debates, and according to all online debate polls including Drudge, Slate, Time Magazine, and many others, Mr. Trump has won all of them, in particular the last one."
In a separate post on social media, Trump tweeted, "I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!"
Kelly has defended her decision to ask Trump about his views on women during the debate in August.
Instead of attending the debate, Trump stated that he would be hosting an event at the same time to raise money for "Veterans and Wounded Warriors."
Since the boycott announcement, Republican opponents have heavily criticized Trump. Ted Cruz, who is second in the GOP race, stated that Trump is afraid of Kelly. He added that he would be ready to debate Trump anytime, anywhere.
According to Trump's campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, the boycott of the debate should not in any reflect fear on Trump's part. Instead, he said to ABC News' George Stephanopoulos on "Good Morning America" that it is about fairness.
"He's not afraid to take a question," Lewandowski said before accusing Kelly of being "obsessed" with the candidate.
"It's not appropriate to have someone like that on the debate stage," he added. "It's impossible to have a fair and honest debate."
FOX News has stated that Kelly will be the moderator and that Trump's invitation to participate in the debate will remain open.
The outlet released this statement, "Capitulating to politicians' ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards. We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees."
The debate will take place on Thursday night in Des Moines. It is the last debate until the Iowa Caucus.
