The Republican National Committee said Thursday it has “respect” for Donald Trump’s decision to ignore Thursday’s GOP presidential debate and hold his own event at the same time.
Sean Spicer, chief strategist and communications director of the RNC, told MSNBC he would like Trump to participate in the debate and still would be able to appear if he chose to do so.
MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked Spicer why controversial Fox News personality Megyn Kelly was allowed to be a moderator of the upcoming debate, while NBC was barred entirely from hosting any future Republican skirmishes following a widely panned debate on CNBC. Spicer responded that there was a “vast difference” between the two situations.
“I think with respect to this we have a disagreement between a candidate and a moderator in terms of a tone and some of the questions,” Spicer said. “There’s a difference between an entity coming out pro or con a particular candidate and someone disagreeing with the tone and tenor of a particular moderator. So while I have respect for Mr. Trump’s decision, ultimately that’s between him and Fox News.”
Spicer also frantically shot down the suggestion that the RNC was “negotiating” with Trump to get him back onstage, and said instead that it was “updating” the campaign about the upcoming debate.
Fox News will broadcast Thursday night’s GOP presidential debate live from Iowa.
