Donald Trump, the brash New York billionaire and reality TV star, has made his way into the top of the Republican presidential contenders with one simple message. That is, “I can handle business.” Whether he is talking about illegal aliens, terrorism, the economy or Vladimir Putin, his mantra is, he will handle it.
But apparently he can’t handle Megyn Kelly.
The Donald has announced he will boycott the January 28th debate on Fox News, right before the crucial Iowa caucuses.
Mr. Trump demanded Fox News remove Megyn Kelly as one of the hosts of the debate. Fox News refused to do that, so Mr. Trump decided he wasn’t coming to the debate. Mr. Trump claims Megyn Kelly is biased.
Donald Trump is refusing to do a debate because he is afraid of a biased TV reporter?
Has The Donald been asleep during all of the other debates? All of the reporters featured on the debates have been biased. Some more so than others but they are biased. The CNBC debate was so biased and so bad, the Republican National Committee (RNC) cut ties with NBC all together. That didn’t bother Mr. Trump but one blonde TV anchor does.
How in the world is Donald Trump going to deal with Vladimir Putin, ISIS and North Korea if he cannot handle Megyn Kelly? How can he possibly handle the Democratic nominee, if he cannot handle Megyn Kelly? If The Donald thinks things are bad now, he should ask John McCain or Mitt Romney what the press is like when someone becomes the Republican nominee.
What will Mr. Trump do then?
Donald Trump likes to claim he is the reason Republican debates are having incredible ratings. He seems to forget the story of the English statistician of a couple of centuries ago, who noticed the correlation between the number of storks in a village and the number of babies born. That unknown statistician missed the crucial element of causation. Donald Trump can’t figure it out either.
There is a deeper point to the story of Mr. Trump’s boycott of the debate. Mr. Trump is basically saying, if I can’t have it my way, I’m taking my ball and going home. Does anyone think that will work when he sits opposite of Russian leader Vladimir Putin?
Ted Cruz noticed the opportunity and immediately made the challenge to Mr. Trump, or as he called him, “ducking Donald” for a one on one debate.
Mr. Trump’s main debating style is to hurl insults and offer vague generalities that he will solve America’s problems. That works well for him when it is an eight-candidate debate and each candidate only has a minute to make their talking point.
One on one, against an experienced debater like Ted Cruz, that strategy won’t work. Donald Trump would be cut to pieces and he knows it. There will be no one on one debate with Ted Cruz. At least not for Iowa.
Mr. Trump’s marketing genius has been to tap into the anger of Americans, offer to be the savior without a lot of specifics and ride to victory. But Donald Trump can’t handle one single blonde TV anchor.
Americans really do need to ask the question: If Donald Trump can’t handle Megyn Kelly, how can he handle Vladimir Putin, China, jihadists or even a very weak Democratic opponent?
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