Donald Trump to Skip GOP Debate Front-runner to boycott final forum before Iowa caucuses due to fight with Fox News By Aaron Zitner and Rebecca Ballhaus

Posted By on January 27th, 2016

http://www.wsj.com/articles/donald-trump-to-skip-gop-debate-1453856797

MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa— Donald Trump’s presidential campaign said the GOP front-runner plans to skip the Fox News debate Thursday in Des Moines, the final one before the Iowa caucuses, in the latest turn in its long-running dispute with the TV network.

Mr. Trump told reporters Tuesday he would likely skip the televised event. Shortly afterward, his campaign manager, Corey Lewandowski, said the candidate had decided to bypass the debate.

“He is definitely not participating in the Fox News debate on Thursday,” Mr. Lewandowski said.

The announcement came amid a long-running public spat between Mr. Trump and the network. The billionaire businessman had threatened to boycott the debate if Fox’s Megyn Kelly served as a moderator, calling her “biased.”

A Fox News spokesman later Tuesday criticized Mr. Trump’s decision not to participate in the debate, calling it “near unprecedented.”

“We’re not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing—Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage,” the spokesman said.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, shown at a debate in Las Vegas in December, told reporters Tuesday he would likely skip the televised event. Shortly afterward, his campaign manager said the candidate had decided to bypass the debate. Photo: Robyn Beck/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images

“Capitulating to politicians’ ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards.” The spokesman added that Mr. Trump is still welcome to attend Thursday’s debate and would be “treated fairly,” but added: “He can’t dictate the moderators or the questions.”

Aside from Mr. Trump, seven other Republican candidates are slated to appear on the prime-time stage.

Earlier in the day, Fox News issued a tongue-in-cheek news release, suggesting that a presidential candidate should be prepared to deal with those he thinks will treat him unfairly.

“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 nefarious source tells us 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,” a Fox News spokesman said.

At a news conference here, Mr. Trump took credit for the high ratings that Republican presidential debates have drawn and presumed advertising revenue Fox News has earned from the events. He also said he had called on Fox News to donate a portion of the revenue to wounded warriors and suggested that while the rest of the GOP field appeared on stage Thursday, he would use the time to raise money for wounded veterans himself.

“Why should I make Fox rich?” he said. “Let me make the wounded warriors rich. Let me make the veterans rich.”

“Let’s see how they do with the ratings…..We’ll have our own event,” he said.

Write to Rebecca Ballhaus at Rebecca.Ballhaus@wsj.com

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