Donald Trump predicted Thursday night that his absence from the GOP debate in Iowa was probably confusing Jeb Bush, who has been attacking Trump nonstop for weeks.
“Low energy,” Trump said to cheers at his own event aimed at raising money for veterans’ groups.
“Extremely low. Or, I shouldn’t say that,” Trump said. “He’s debating right now. Maybe he’s doing great. He’s probably looking for me.”
“He’s saying, ‘Has anyone seen Trump? Why… where’s Trump?'” he said as the crowd laughed.
Trump used the event to say that Fox News apologized to him Thursday for the feud that prompted him to abandon the debate. But he said it was too late to stop the veterans event that he put together in just a few days.
Trump also called up Rick Santorum and Mike Huckabee onto the stage, and let them speak for a few minutes about veterans.
Both joked that they were running against each other still. Santorum said he was “supporting another candidate,” while Huckabee joked that after the undercard debate, he had nothing else to do anyway.
“This worked great for me,” he said.
Trump’s event went for about an hour, while the GOP debate was continuing just minutes away.
Trump is currently first in the Washington Examiner‘s presidential power rankings, with Bush in fifth place.
