Donald Trump said he would consider skipping this Thursday’s Republican primary debate if he doesn’t get fair treatment from Fox anchor Megyn Kelly — an apparent attempt to influence moderators at the final GOP debate before Iowa.
In an interview with CNN’s Wolf Blitzer on Monday, Trump continued to badmouth the Fox News host who had challenged him during the first Republican showdown last August.
“I don’t like her. She doesn’t treat me fairly. I’m not a big fan of hers at all,” Trump said.
He then added, “I’d like to go to the debate… But, we’ll see what happens. It’ll be exciting.”
When asked by Blitzer if he hadn’t decided “100 percent” that he’d go to Thursday night’s debate, the Republican frontrunner again suggested he may skip.
“They’ll see, if I think I’m going to be treated unfairly, I’ll do something else,” Trump said. “But I don’t think she can treat me fairly actually. I think she’s very biased and I don’t think she can treat me fairly.”
Trump then appeared to walk back his statement: “That doesn’t mean I don’t do the debate. I like doing the debates. I’ve won every single debate according to every poll,” he said. “So, I want to the debates, they’re good for me. But, I don’t think she can treat me fairly and I’m not a big fan of hers. Maybe I know too much about her.”
He took another swipe at Kelly.
“I might be the best thing that ever happened to her. You know, whoever even heard of her before the last debate?” he said.
Trump’s remarks about Kelly come just days after he tweeted that she “should not be allowed” to moderate the debate because of her “conflict of interest and bias.”
In a statement, Fox News said, “Sooner or later Donald Trump, even if he’s president, is going to have to learn that he doesn’t get to pick the journalists — we’re very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly.”