WASHINGTON — Donald Trump’s campaign declared Tuesday that he will not participate in Thursday’s Fox News Channel debate, after the cable network said it would not bounce Megyn Kelly as a moderator.
Trump’s campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said the Republican front-runner would “definitely” skip the debate in Des Moines, Iowa, and it was not negotiable.
Trump had initially been angry that Kelly was picked as co-host of the prime-time debate. He has feuded with her since she asked him questions he didn’t like at a previous Fox debate.
Earlier Tuesday, Trump said he would “most likely” skip the debate because Fox would not bow to his wish to drop Kelly.
“They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else,” he said. “So let them have their debate and let’s see how they do with the ratings.”
The blowup comes just days before the Feb. 1 Iowa caucuses, where Trump is running neck-and-neck with Texas Sen. Ted Cruz, who was endorsed Tuesday by Tony Perkins, the evangelical leader of the Family Research Council.
After Trump attacked Kelly — including releasing a video calling her “really biased” — a Fox News spokesperson shot back with this 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 Fox News spokesperson later said Trump is still welcome to participate, but will not be allowed to “dictate the moderators or the questions.”
“Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards,” the spokesperson added.
Trump’s strategy, which follows six previous debates that he claims to have won, comes as a new Quinnipiac University poll showed him leading Cruz by just two points, 31 percent to 29 percent, in Iowa.
Meanwhile, Cruz challenged Trump to a separate one-on-one debate.
Here’s why Trump is terrified of Fox’s Megyn Kelly: