Donald Trump revels at debate upset from rival event

He held his own debate pitting Trump versus, well, Trump.

Trump pulled out of the debate this week, citing unfair treatment from host Fox News.

“I took a chance and I don’t even know the end result”, Trump told a crowd of more than 1,000. According to the network, Trump offered to appear at the debate if the network gave $5 million to his charities.

The New York billionaire did not want Megyn Kelly, a Fox News journalist, to be present at the debate, a request turned down by the TV channel.

Thursday’s viewership was way down from the 25 million people who watched the first debate in August – that first sparring session was the most-watched nonsports program in cable news history.

An NBC/WSJ/Marist poll released on Thursday showed an 11-point shift in Cruz’s support from three weeks ago, moving Donald Trump from a 4-point deficit to a 7-point edge over Cruz.

On the Democratic side, Bernie Sanders has a new ad blasting Goldman Sachs – and by extension his rival Hillary Clinton, who collected speaking fees from the giant Wall Street bank.

Trump’s use of the term – which describes children born on US soil to parents who are in the country illegally and is widely considered to be derogatory – marks the latest escalation of his attacks against Cruz in which he highlights the Texas senator’s Canadian birthplace.

A recent CNN/ORC poll of Republican voters has Trump at 41 percent to 19 percent for Cruz, with more than two-thirds of Republicans saying they believe Trump will be the party’s presidential candidate. In 2016, Donald said, “I have zero respect for Megyn Kelly”.

The prime-time event lacked some of the heat Trump often injects into debates and instead focused largely on policy.

He added: “What happened last night though was incredible because I wasn’t treated right. i did something that was very risky, and I think it turned out great because I’m on the front page of every paper”.