Trump refuses to debate; calls Fox’s Kelly ‘a lightweight’

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaks at a rally at Muscatine High School in Muscatine, Iowa, Sunday, Jan. 24, 2016.

On the troubling debate between “Ted Cruz or Donald Trump” Stephen Colbert pointed out in the best possible way that regardless of which bigoted, fear-mongering candidate Republicans choose – the outcome remains the same.

“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”, the Fox News statement said. The acrimony appears to have begun during the first Republican debate in August, when Kelly asked Trump about degrading comments the candidate had made about women.

The Trump campaign’s announcement came after several days of heated exchanges between Trump and Fox News, the sponsors of Thursday’s GOP debate.

Speaking to MSNBC and FOX News early Tuesday, Trump lashed out at his opponent, calling him “a big mess” and claiming “people have realized he probably can’t even run for president”.

Donald Trump’s campaign manager says Trump “will not be participating” in the Republican debate Thursday.

“I don’t know what games Roger Ailes is playing”, Trump said, speaking of the chief executive of Fox News, adding it was “irrevocable” that he would skip the debate.

His campaign released a statement saying he will not be participating in the debate and will instead host an event in Iowa to raise money for “the Veterans and Wounded Warriors, who have been treated so horribly by our all talk, no action politicians”. “That’s fine; he’s running for president, it’s not a fun business, there’s gonna be ups and downs and I know he considered that a down”, Kelly said.

Florida Sen. Marco Rubio, meanwhile, finished a distant third in the latest Iowa survey, with 13% support, despite a number of endorsements in recent days, including one from the Des Moines Register, the largest newspaper in the Hawkeye State. “Let’s see how they do with the ratings”.

Among those holding degrees, 26 per cent back Mr Trump, 20 per cent support Mr Cruz, and Tea Party supporters split 37 per cent for the reality television star and 34 per cent for senator from Texas.

Trump, meanwhile, called Cruz a “liar” who “looks like a jerk”, in an interview Tuesday.

With Kelly returning to the moderator’s chair this Thursday in Iowa, Trump has been hinting that he may be a no-show. Trump told reporters. “The Democrats are finished with their debates”.

The poll, which was embedded in Trump’s tweet, showed a near-split between respondents who felt he should attend the debate (52 per cent) and those who felt he should skip it (48 per cent).

“Megyn Kelly is really biased against me”, Trump said in a video posted Tuesday afternoon on his Instagram account. “They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else”, he said.

-Trump is offering himself as someone who can get things done with Democrats in Congress.

Throughout the controversy, Kelly has held her ground, saying her questions were tough but fair.