Donald Trump claims his rivals want to join veterans' fundraiser he will be hosting instead of attending Republican debate
Donald Trump: 'Wow, two candidates called last night and said they want to go to my event tonight at Drake University'
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.Donald Trump has claimed that two of his Republican rivals have asked to join him at a fundraising event that the billionaire will be hosting at the same time as the Fox News GOP debate which he is boycotting tonight.
The party's frontrunner announced yesterday that he would not be attending the final debate for his party’s presidential candidate hopefuls before caucuses are held in Iowa on Monday.
In a statement, the New York entrepreneur’s campaign team said that he did not want to “play games” with Fox News and that the broadcaster believes it can “toy” with Mr Trump.
The announcement followed a press conference in which the 69-year-old criticised Fox News’ debate moderator Megyn Kelly, with whom he clashed in a GOP debate last August.
Instead, Mr Trump said he will be staging a fundraising event to help military veterans during tonight’s debate – something he has claimed other Republican candidates want to join him at.
Earlier today, he tweeted: “Wow, two candidates called last night and said they want to go to my event tonight at Drake University.”
Mr Trump did not elaborate on his claim and there have been no statements made by the other Republican candidates with regards to any plans for them to join the controversial figure.
While some supporters have welcomed the businessman’s decision to hold a charity event instead of attending the debate, his competitor Ted Cruz has mocked Mr Trump, calling him a “fragile soul”.
“It’s not that he’s afraid of me,” Mr Cruz told an audience in West Des Moines yesterday.
“He’s afraid of you. He doesn’t want to answer questions from the men and women of Iowa about how his record doesn’t match what he’s selling.”
While another rival Jeb Bush added: “I’ve got a $20 bet he’ll show up. Because it’s in his interests.”
David Kochel, a senior adviser to Mr Bush, said Mr Trump’s absence from the debate would give the other Republican candidates a chance to get their messages across without having to compete with Mr Trump’s provocative rhetoric.
He said: “It gives us more time at the microphone and more time to talk about answers to substantive issues that Iowa votes are demanding right now.”
Additional reporting by Reuters
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments