Trump Wants to Skip Debates: ‘We’ve Had Enough’ Debates
Much like his supporters, Trump doesn’t like debates where he is held accountable or asked to explain his positions to the American people.
[Since this article was released, Fox has now canceled the debate.]
Fox News may be planning a GOP presidential debate next Monday between the three remaining candidates, but Donald Trump declared Wednesday he won’t be there.
“Nobody told me about the debates,” Trump told the network’s “Fox and Friends” program. “I thought the last debate on CNN was the last debate. I’m doing a major speech in front of 8,000 or 9,000 people that night.”
And, Trump said, he thinks that the 11 or 12 debates that have been held already have been enough, and yet another debate isn’t going to solve anything.
“I did really well on the last one,” Trump told the program. “I think I have done well in all the debates. According to Drudge and everybody else I have won the debates. How many times can the same people ask you the same question? So I was very surprised when I heard that Fox called for a debate. Nobody told me about it. I won’t be there, no.”
According to The Hill, Trump will address the American Israel Public Affairs Committe on Monday night in Washington D.C., and he has suggested repeadedly he will avoid additional debates as the race for the nomination tightens.
AIPAC announced last Friday that Trump was to be at the conference, while Fox made its debate announcement on Monday. The AIPAC event will also feature speeches from Democratic presidential front-runner Hillary Clinton, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and House Speaker Paul Ryan.
And on Wednesday, Trump said he can’t back out of the speech to the pro-Israel group.
“I’ve committed to it,” said Trump. “I’ll tell you one thing, when I make a commitment, I wouldn’t mind, you know, going to the debate. I think we have had enough of them, I’ll be honest with you.”
Trump has been at war with Fox News for months and has been feuding with Fox star Megyn Kelly since the first GOP debate last summer.
Even amid victory Tuesday night, Trump was trolling Kelly on Twitter, calling her “unwatchable.”
Watching other networks and local news. Really good night! Crazy @megynkelly is unwatchable.
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) March 16, 2016
Appearing on MNSBC’s “Morning Joe” program on Wednesday morning, Trump said he’s not particularly interested in making peace with Kelly.
Trump said he doesn’t mind doing debates, but he said the events are great ratings winners for the networks.
“I’ll tell you who loves them, the networks,” said Trump, answering a statement that voters love the contests. “Now, the Democrats do not get good ratings. They get terrible ratings. The Republicans get good ratings if I’m in it.”