IOWA CITY — Hours after his proclamation that he will be skipping Thursday’s Fox News debate, Donald Trump virtually ignored the cable news giant during his second rally of the day on the University of Iowa’s campus.
Speaking to a college-student laden crowd, Trump mentioned Fox News only one time during his 35 minute address, during which he touted his high poll numbers, bashed Iowa rival Ted Cruz, as well as Democratic front-runners Hillary Clinton and (specifically) Bernie Sanders.
In his riff on how great he’s doing in the polls, Trump touted the latest Fox News poll in the Hawkeye State, where Trump holds an 11-point lead over Cruz, calling the network a “wonderful, wonderful place.”
“Here’s what just came out: Fox News, right? Wonderful, wonderful place — Fox News. Wonderful,” Trump told the crowd. “Trump…34. Cruz, 23. Rubio, 12. We have a nice lead.”
Trumps decision to barely talk about the No. 1-rated cable news channel came minutes after his campaign released a statement saying he “will not be participating” in their debate after a continued feud with host Megyn Kelly, who questioned him in their August debate about his past comments about women in the past.
Not long after Trump wrapped up his event, Fox News fired off a sharply-worded statemetn aimed at Trump and Corey Lewandowski, Trump’s campaign manager, who the network contends made threats at Kelly.
“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,” the statement read. “Megyn Kelly, whom he has viciously attacked since August and has now spent four days demanding be removed from the debate stage.”
“Capitulating to politicians ultimatums about a debate moderator violates all journalistic standards, as do threats,” the networks statement said, pointing to Lewandowski. “In a call Monday with a Fox News executive, Lewandowski stated that Megyn had a ‘rough couple of days after the last debate’ and he ‘would hate to have her go through that again.’ Lewandowski was warned not to level any more threats but he continued to do so. We can’t give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees.”
According to the campaign’s statement, Trump will host an event in Iowa to raise money for wounded veterans, before adding that this decision to skip the debate “takes guts.” Trump’s decision also came after FNC released a statement dripping with sarcasm, telling the real estate mogul that he will not be able to pick and choose who he deals with if he wins the White House.
The network, for its part, maintians that the invitation to Trump is still open.
While excluding Fox from his usual hit list, Trump tore into Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, calling him a “communist” before protests began to break out, while also mocking the Democratic forum held Monday night in Des Moines.
“I watched that debate — if you call it that — last night … I felt I had an obligation to watch it, I could not watch it. I tried. I went back three different times — I couldn’t watch it.
“You have a communist,” Trump said about Sanders before the protests began, to which he suggested they let have the protestor dealt with by the Iowa Hawkeyes football team, some of whom were brought on stage before Trump spoke.
Trump’s only planned event Wednesday is a rally in Lexington County, S.C., before returning to Iowa for his newly-planned event.
