Donald J. Trump likes to talk tough about he is going to “kick the ass of insert country here!” His idiot supporters eat it up. Amurica! USA! USA! USA!
But “The Donald” cowers before FAUX News “mean girl” Megyn Kelly. Trump campaign says he will ‘definitely’ skip Thursday’s Fox debate:
Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump abruptly announced here Tuesday that he would not participate in Thursday’s scheduled debate, escalating his off-and-on feud with Fox News Channel and throwing the GOP campaign into turmoil.
Trump’s assertion, which his campaign manager insisted was irreversible, came less than one week before the kickoff Iowa caucuses. He once again defied the conventional rules of politics, and used his power and prominence to shape the campaign agenda and conversation.
Ahem, Trump only has the “power” that a corrupt corporate media affords him. They are the enablers of his reality TV show campaign.
So far, Trump’s untraditional moves have only expanded his support, but his threatened boycott leaves him open to criticism that for all his tough talk he is ducking face-to-face confrontations with his opponents and scrutiny from the Fox moderators.
Given Trump’s past flirtations with boycotting Fox, many will doubt his declaration until they see the other candidates take the debate stage on Thursday night without him.
The Republican debates have become must-see television, in part because of the allure of Trump’s star power and unpredictable candidacy. But he said Tuesday that he thinks Fox and other television networks have been taking advantage of him by selling advertisements for their debates at a high premium.
“Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates?” Trump told reporters at a news conference in Marshalltown. “Why do I have to make Fox rich?”
The debate is scheduled to be in Des Moines on Thursday, and Trump said he would instead host a competing event in the state designed to raise money for wounded veterans.
It would be an unprecedented move if Trump withdrew from the debate at such a consequential moment on the primary calendar.
Trump long has objected to the participation of Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly as one of the three moderators, claiming she has treated him unfairly with both her questioning of him at last August’s debate and her commentary since then.
Trump also said that a “wise-guy press release” that the network issued earlier on Tuesday belittling him was inappropriately antagonistic and childish.
Fox’s statement said that network officials “had 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 statement added 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.”
After reading it, Trump said: “I said, ‘Bye-bye.’ ”
“Fox is playing games,” Trump said. “They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else. Let them have the debate. Let’s see how they do with the ratings.”
Earlier Tuesday, Fox News Channel Chairman and Chief Executive Roger Ailes said the network would defend Kelly even if it means losing Trump in the debate.
“Megyn Kelly is an excellent journalist, and the entire network stands behind her,” Ailes said. “She will absolutely be on the debate stage on Thursday night.”
Because the feckless corporate media is so easily manipulated, here is the beauty of Trump’s hissy-fit with FAUX News:
By announcing that he will not debate, Trump likely will dominate news coverage and deny Cruz and other opponents a face-to-face confrontation before Iowa Republicans go to caucus.
Trump’s decision also allows him to avoid direct questioning from Kelly and her co-moderators, Bret Baier and Chris Wallace, at a time when he has come under increased scrutiny over his past positions on social issues that are important to many Iowa Republicans.
The reaction from Trump’s rivals ranged from criticism to mockery.
Sen. Ted Cruz said on Mark Levin’s radio show: “If Donald is afraid to defend his record, that speaks volumes. If he thinks Megyn Kelly is so scary, what does he think he’ll do with [Russian President] Vladimir Putin?”
Cruz challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate sometime over the next week.
“I’m happy to go an hour and a half mano-a-mano — me and Donald with no moderators anytime before the Iowa caucuses,” he said.
At an event Tuesday night, Cruz said: “Donald is a fragile soul. You know, if she asks him mean questions, I mean his hair might stand on end.” He likened it to skipping a job interview.
* * *
The Trump campaign issued a statement affirming the decision, saying: “Unlike the very stupid, highly incompetent people running our country into the ground, Mr. Trump knows when to walk away. Roger Ailes and FOX News think they can toy with him, but Mr. Trump doesn’t play games.” Trump’s statement — you have to see it to believe it
Trump signaled on Monday that he had reservations about the debate, telling CNN’s Wolf Blitzer that he had issues with Kelly. “I don’t like her,” Trump told Blitzer. “She doesn’t treat me fairly.”
Trump and Kelly tangled at the first GOP debate in August in Cleveland. Kelly asked Trump to explain offensive comments denigrating women, and he took offense to the question.
Later he escalated the attacks against Kelly. In an interview with CNN two days after the debate, Trump said: “She gets out and she starts asking me all sorts of ridiculous questions. You could see there was blood coming out of her eyes — blood coming out of her wherever. In my opinion, she was off base.”
Since then he has carried on his feud with the Fox anchor. On Tuesday, explaining his decision not to debate this week, he referred to Kelly as a “lightweight” and a “third-rate reporter.”
Throughout the controversy, Kelly has held her ground, saying her questions were tough but fair.
Fox News issued a statement late Tuesday night alleging that Lewandowski threatened in a Saturday phone call a repeat of the “rough” treatment Kelly received following her August clash with Trump. Presidential campaign or mafia film? Fox News says Trump camp threatened Megyn Kelly.
“Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats,” the statement read. The network added: “We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees. Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly.”
And Trump’s idiot supporters? Donald Trump’s fans say skipping the debate will help, not hurt his campaign. Last week Trump said I could ‘shoot somebody and I wouldn’t lose voters’. Sadly, he may be right. Tea-Publicans have lost their minds.
“Journalistic standards” and ” Fox News.” I don’t think “oxymoronic” nearly covers it.
Its like when hitler attacked stalin you didn’t know who to boo for!