What We Know: Trump, Cruz closing arguments in Iowa

On Tuesday evening, Trump campaign manager Corey Lewandowski told reporters that he is “definitely not doing” Thursday’s debate.

John Minchillo/AP Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump reached a new high in the CNN/ORC poll, getting the support of 41% GOP voters nationally.

A Fox News spokeswoman said Trump’s decision is “rooted in one thing – Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August”.

Trump says Kelly is biased and shouldn’t be allowed to moderate.

Bullish, Trump reportedly asked “Let’s see how much money Fox is going to make on the debate without me, OK?”

At a campaign stop Tuesday in Fairfield, Iowa, Cruz accused Trump of being afraid of mean questions from Kelly and said skipping the debate was tantamount to refusing to be interviewed for a job.

The Trump campaign’s announcement came after several days of heated exchanges between Trump and Fox News, the sponsors of Thursday’s GOP debate. Around 1 p.m. Trump polled his fans on Twitter, asking, “Should I do the GOP debate?”

But the Democratic National Committee raised doubts about whether it would proceed, saying in a statement it had no plans to sanction the debate.

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“It’s his way of generating interest in the debate and upping the number of people that will watch”, Glasgow, 66, said, predicting that Trump will ultimately participate. Ted Cruz who will be center stage, followed by Florida Sen.

“Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards”, Fox said in a statement.

CNN political director David Chalian was pondering whether there would be an empty lectern if Trump did not show, and said it would be an opportunity for his opponents to essentially free shots at him. The celebrity billionaire is in an ongoing feud with Fox host Megyn Kelly, dating back to last August, and claimed he would never be treated fairly by her.

“If he thinks Megyn Kelly is so scary, what exactly does he think he’d do with Vladimir Putin?”

With just six days until the Iowa caucuses, polls are taking on greater significance for the candidates. He was invited to appear on the main stage with Texas Sen.

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). Florida Sen. Marco Rubio stood at 8 percent, retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson at 6 percent, former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush at 5 percent, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie at registered 4 percent while everyone else had 3 percent or less.