Trump going to skip the debate?

[dogmush]

Scrolling through my Facebook feed I cam across this:

Donald Trump says he probably will not participate in the next Republican presidential debate


I confess I don't pay all that much attention until we get through the primaries and winnow the field a bit, But it appears the Donald is pissed at Megyn Kelly.  You guys think he'll follow through with the threat?  If he does, how does it make him look.  I'm thinking a little whiny, but I know he's got the whole "F the press" thing going for him.

FWIW, His "I'll host my own event and give the money to wounded vets" just comes off as pandering to me.  He's clearly looking for something to draw attention from the debate, and picked a cause he feels no one will call him on.

[Perd Hapley]

I suspect, in a Trump-less debate, they will spend a whole lot of time talking about Trump.

[Monkeyleg]

If true, Fistful, Trump will get more press the next day responding to what the candidates said, and you'll have a hard time finding out what it was the other candidates said.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

It will be entertaining. 

[Perd Hapley]

If true, Fistful, Trump will get more press the next day responding to what the candidates said, and you'll have a hard time finding out what it was the other candidates said.

That, too. Trump this, Trump that. You'd hardly know anyone else is in the race. It's almost as if someone put Trump up to it...

[Ben]

Just announced, he's officially out because of that meanie Megan Kelly. If he does get elected president, they're going to have to create a safe space for him in the White House.

[Angel Eyes]

Just announced, he's officially out because of that meanie Megan Kelly. If he does get elected president, they're going to have to create a safe space for him in the White House.

If he gets elected, Fox News should make Kelly their White House correspondent.

Then again, President Trump would probably ship her off to Gitmo.

[roo_ster]

Trump is showing them who is boss.  Instead of sucking up to a hostile press, he gives them the back of his hand.  And the press is not sure what to do about it.

It is showing Fox (and everyone else) who the dominant player is.  All the other browbeat candidates just tip their hats and take any crap the media throws at them.  Trump hits back hard and states reality plainly.  Reality being that Fox needs Trump more than Trump needs Fox.  The big networks are becoming less relevant and powerful and Trump is rubbing their noses in it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-wont-participate-in-gop-debate-on-fox-news/2016/01/26/58fa0b2e-c490-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html

    The Republican debates have become must-see television, in part because of the allure of Trump’s star power and unpredictable candidacy. But he said Tuesday that he thinks Fox and other television networks have been taking advantage of him by selling advertisements for their debates at a high premium.

    “Why should the networks continue to get rich on the debates?” Trump told reporters at a news conference in Marshalltown. “Why do I have to make Fox rich?”


    Trump also said that a “wise-guy press release” that the network issued earlier on Tuesday belittling him was inappropriately antagonistic and childish.

    Fox’s statement said that network officials “had learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if the becomes president.”

    The statement added that Trump “has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings.”

    After reading it, Trump said: “I said, ‘Bye-bye.’ ”

    “Fox is playing games,” Trump said. “They can’t toy with me like they toy with everybody else. Let them have the debate. Let’s see how they do with the ratings.”

To put it in other words:
Trump is acting the alpha male.

If he gets elected, Fox News should make Kelly their White House correspondent.

Then again, President Trump would probably ship her off to Gitmo.

Nah, she just doesn't get a press pass. 

[HankB]

I think there's little doubt that Ms. Kelly doesn't like Trump - at all. And that she has it in for him. That's actually OK - because she is a COMMENTATOR, not a NEWSWOMAN. And she has a moderately popular program of her own. But she ought not be moderating a debate where she has an overt bias.

So . . . Trump is bypassing an obviously hostile moderator.

It's to his credit that he's not as STUPID as the bevy of GOP primary candidates were four years ago when they all participated in a debate moderated by George Stephanopoulis, a noted Clintonista. (And IIRC back then they also accepted Diane Sawyer as moderator in another debate - which was almost as bad.)

[griz]

Hostile?  She asked him a question.  In a debate.  He had a hard time with that, and he wants to be president?

He isn't worried about Kelly, he's worried being called on his unexplainable positions.  He will do fine presenting his sound bites unchallenged on his own stage, and his fans will eat it up.

[brimic]

Trump is just attention whoring, nothing new here.

[makattak]

Trump is showing them who is boss.  Instead of sucking up to a hostile press, he gives them the back of his hand.  And the press is not sure what to do about it.

It is showing Fox (and everyone else) who the dominant player is.  All the other browbeat candidates just tip their hats and take any crap the media throws at them.  Trump hits back hard and states reality plainly.  Reality being that Fox needs Trump more than Trump needs Fox.  The big networks are becoming less relevant and powerful and Trump is rubbing their noses in it.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/trump-says-he-wont-participate-in-gop-debate-on-fox-news/2016/01/26/58fa0b2e-c490-11e5-a4aa-f25866ba0dc6_story.html

To put it in other words:
Trump is acting the alpha male.


Nah, she just doesn't get a press pass.  

Wait, I thought Trump was the master dealer? That everyone loves him and hates Cruz, because Cruz sticks to his positions (and is "just a nasty person"), but Trump knows how to get deals done?

Why couldn't the dealmaster make this deal?

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

Wait, I thought Trump was the master dealer? That everyone loves him and hates Cruz, because Cruz sticks to his positions (and is "just a nasty person"), but Trump knows how to get deals done?

Why couldn't the dealmaster make this deal?

Sometimes one just walks away from a deal. Just because one is the "deal master" does not mean he must make a deal. And Ted Cruz is still an establishment hack and idiot. 

[makattak]

Sometimes one just walks away from a deal. Just because one is the "deal master" does not mean he must make a deal. And Ted Cruz is still an establishment hack and idiot.  

Wow. I almost coughed up a lung laughing at that.

The italicized portion is the part that always amuses me about the Trump supporters. It's not enough to think their candidate is superior, even the most conservative candidate we've had since Reagan is an establishment hack and idiot.

The idiot part is particularly amusing to me. Cruz is the most intelligent candidate for president we've had in at least a generation.

[brimic]

Sometimes one just walks away from a deal. Just because one is the "deal master" does not mean he must make a deal. And Ted Cruz is still an establishment hack and idiot. 

Well, yeah, he's all about making deals if its deals with socialist friends- schumer,pelosi, and reid....

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2016/01/26/trump_i_have_a_great_relationship_with_nancy_pelosi_harry_reid_chuck_schumer.html

[Scout26]

Wow. I almost coughed up a lung laughing at that.

The italicized portion is the part that always amuses me about the Trump supporters. It's not enough to think their candidate is superior, even the most conservative candidate we've had since Reagan is an establishment hack and idiot.

The idiot part is particularly amusing to me. Cruz is the most intelligent candidate for president we've had in at least a generation.

I agree.  I don't get the Cruz hate.  He has been the most principled, consistent constitutionalist since the 1980's.   Everyone who has worked with or for him has nothing but praise.  .  Yes, he's a lawyer, but one with a love of the Constitution.   I've read several articles from people who worked with him at the FTC, and all of them (from both sides of the aisle) have stated how he's a good boss, not self-centered and intellectually curious, always willing to explore ideas, even if he doesn't agree with them.

Read his book.  Look at what he's done in the Senate.   The guy stood in the well of the senate and called out McConnell as a liar.  The establishment (both the R's and the Washington establishment HATE the guy with a fiery hate of ten thousand burning suns. ) the establishment is willing to throw in with Trump simply because they FEAR a Cruz administration.

The key tonight will be to ignore the elephant NOT in the room.  I have a feeling that without the Trump bombast, Ted will shine tonight.  

[roo_ster]

Wait, I thought Trump was the master dealer? That everyone loves him and hates Cruz, because Cruz sticks to his positions (and is "just a nasty person"), but Trump knows how to get deals done?

Why couldn't the dealmaster make this deal?

I am reminded of a line by a piece of eye-candy in the Game of Thrones teevee show, "It is known..."  backed by some unsupported statement.  IOW, I think your premises lack support.

1. Everyone doesn't love Trump.  He is not at all lovable in my estimation.  Well, except for the women who base their vote on high-status men who give them a thrill.  I would include Megyn Kelly in that camp, from the video I saw of the earlier debate.  The chick digs Trump.

2. The cohort that supports Trump for GOP POTUS candidate has a lot of overlap with the cohort of Cruz supporters.  I think Trump supporters are more likely to despise Bush and/or Rubio and think of Cruz and their #2 pick.  Main exception is the heretofore politically uninvolved folk Trump is supposedly bringing on-line. 

3. From what I have seen of Trump, the "deal" is not any particular debate, but the office of POTUS and the power that brings.  If Trump can manage to slap Fox silly and come out on top, that is superior (for Trump's objectives) to some sort of knuckling under and/or negotiation where he shows up at the debate.  For my own part, I think the Trump's Fox debate "controversy" is, uh, contrived.  I think Trump is beating on Fox for reasons other than Megyn Kelly being a moderator and having the hots for Trump.  More likely he expects to see Fox ratings dip and Trump will claim victory.

Wow. I almost coughed up a lung laughing at that.

The italicized portion is the part that always amuses me about the Trump supporters. It's not enough to think their candidate is superior, even the most conservative candidate we've had since Reagan is an establishment hack and idiot.

The idiot part is particularly amusing to me. Cruz is the most intelligent candidate for president we've had in at least a generation.

I agree that Cruz is the smartest candidate to run in a good long while.  I made that point in detail elsewhere.  Sadly, he has the charisma of the AV/Math geek know-it-all rather than student body president or homecoming king.  Or Trump.

That he is an establishment hack is pretty near undeniable, given his wife's employer (Goldman Sachs) and the gorilla-sized loan G-S fronted them.  G-S owns them.

[Hutch]

<snip>
That he is an establishment hack is pretty near undeniable, given his wife's employer (Goldman Sachs) and the gorilla-sized loan G-S fronted them.  G-S owns them.

Goldman Sachs (or someone) owns everybody.  It's what they do, it's how they roll.  Have you seen the CV of the Fed governors and the guys in Treasury?  GS, Citi, JPMC, Wells, BofA alumni, all.  And when they leave "government service" <spits>, they go right back.  Who guards the guardians, indeed.

Nothing to see here, move along.

[seeker_two]

Trump skipping the FOX debate doesn't hurt Trump nearly as much as it hurts FOX. All the Trump supporters won't watch, and most everyone else will turn the channel when there is no main event.

[Blakenzy]

And the media goes gaga for Trump... Again!

He is like a Kardashian for conservatives.

[Ron]

I'm OK with Trump breaking the status quo and trashing the media/government election racket.

The media is our enemy, even FOX News.

[Battle Monkey of Zardoz]

I'm OK with Trump breaking the status quo and trashing the media/government election racket.

The media is our enemy, even FOX News.

Agreed. Plus, it's entertaining. 

[roo_ster]

Scott Adams, Dilbert creator and avowed nihlist, on Trump's Crazy Like A FOX debate decline:
http://blog.dilbert.com/post/138125409321/trump-fox-news-and-megyn-kelly-explained-master

Just read it, it is not long. 

FTR, Adams is a nihlist and his analysis leaves zero room for any sort of persuasion via the means of content/issue, whatnot.  It is all in hte presentation for him.

[Scout26]

And Ted Cruz throws down the gauntlet.

https://www.tedcruz.org/l/ducking-donald/

[makattak]

And Ted Cruz throws down the gauntlet.

https://www.tedcruz.org/l/ducking-donald/

Scrooge McDonald! Or maybe Scrooge McTrump!

That's just hilarious.