“YOU’RE FIRED!” Trump Dumps GOP Debate on Fox
Campaign: ‘He’s definitely not participating’
(Washington Post) – Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump says he will not attend a debate scheduled for Thursday night in Des Moines, an unexpected twist just days before voters here launch the election process.
“I probably won’t be doing the debate. I’m going to have something else in Iowa,” he said during a press conference on Tuesday afternoon.
After the press conference, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski confirmed to The Washington Post that Trump would “definitely not” participate in Thursday’s Fox News debate.
“He’s definitely not participating in the Fox News debate,” Lewandowski said. “His word is his bond.”
He said Trump would remain in Iowa as planned and would instead host an event in the state to raise money for wounded warriors and other veterans groups.
Trump has made such threats before, but he said that the Fox News Channel, which is hosting the debate Thursday night, had gone too far by issuing press statements on Tuesday that he said mocked his concern about Megyn Kelly, one of the debate co-moderators.
“They’re dealing with someone who’s a little bit different. They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else,” he added.
When Trump saw the press release from Fox, “I said, ‘Bye bye,’” he said.
Trump said his event on Thursday will benefit military veterans and service members wounded in war.
Although Trump said there had been too many Republican debates, Lewandowki said the decision applied only to the Fox News debate and that he would be open to participating in future debates.
Earlier Tuesday, Fox News Channel President Roger Ailes told The Post that “Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist, and the entire network stands behind her. She will absolutely be on the debate stage on Thursday night.”
Later, the network poked fun at Trump in a satirical statement: “We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president. A nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”
Trump’s feud with Kelly began during the first debate in August, when she questioned him about disparaging remarks he has made about women with her opening question.
Trump made his surprise announcement during a press conference in a high school workout gym, within steps of about a dozen stationary bikes. The combative exchange with reporters delayed the start of his event by nearly an hour.
In the gymnasium packed with thousands, Trump sat on a stage for a rare Q&A session with a local radio host who asked mostly friendly questions about his economic and tax policy. The candidate never told the crowd what he had told reporters and only hinted at his decision at the end of the 45-minute event.
“Fox News is fine, I have no objection to Fox News, but they have to treat people fairly and they can’t take advantage of people,” he said. “I made a little announcement before, not a big deal, but it’s sort of an interesting period of time.”
People leaving the event said that they didn’t know what Trump was referring to when he mentioned Fox. When told of his decision, opinion split sharply between disbelief, disagreement and total support.
Marcia Ziel, a retiree from Marshalltown, Iowa, disagreed with Trump’s assertion that Fox has been unfair to him.
“I’ve watched the debates and I’m sorry, but Fox has done a terrific job with the debates. I’m surprised,” she said.
His decision is likely to disappoint many Iowans, she added, but “I don’t think it’ll change their vote, but it would be very disappointing.”
Matt Tyda, of Marshalltown, said Trump’s decision “means nothing to me. The media, you can’t believe anything, especially anything Fox News says, wants or does.” He cited recent reporting by the network that appeared to mock Republican Sen. Rand Paul as an example of the network’s poor coverage.
“Fox News is a joke,” he added.
Karen Farmer, a retiree from Cedar Rapids, said she’d traveled to the event to hear what Trump had to say about Social Security. Told about his decision, she shook her head in disbelief.
“I would think that he would show up in the debate and I think he will,” she said. “He’ll be there.”
Trump is scheduled to appear later Tuesday in Iowa City. On Wednesday, he is scheduled to travel to Lexington, S.C., for a rally before returning to Iowa, presumably for his veterans-themed event.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/post-politics/wp/2016/01/26/trump-will-definitely-not-participate-in-fox-debate-campaign-says/
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