MARSHALLTOWN, Iowa — Donald Trump declared Tuesday he would boycott the last Republican debate before the Iowa caucuses, leading Texas Sen. Ted Cruz to challenge him to a one-on-one debate. Adding intrigue to the Democratic race, the White House said President Barack Obama would host Bernie Sanders for an Oval Office meeting.
The dual developments created new ripples of uncertainty six days before voting in the presidential race begins. Both parties were bracing for nail-biting caucuses that will determine which of their two leading candidates will carry the whiff of victory into New Hampshire and beyond.
Trump raised the prospect of skipping the debate as he blasted Fox News Channel for “playing games” and including anchor Megyn Kelly as a debate moderator. Trump’s campaign spokesman later said he definitely will not participate.
The race among Democrats was no more settled six days from the leadoff Iowa caucuses, with Sanders and Hillary Clinton locked in a close contest and details about their debate plans unclear. But the fireworks Tuesday were on the Republican side.
Trump said he would hold his own event in Iowa during the debate to raise money for wounded veterans. He dismissed Kelly as a “third-rate reporter” who is bad at her job and had been “toying” with him — reprising a squabble that erupted after a debate Kelly co-hosted last year.
Trump’s pullout came after Fox News Channel tweaked the GOP front-runner for asking his Twitter followers whether he should debate. The network, in a sarcastically worded statement, said it had learned from a “secret back channel” that the leaders of Iran and Russia planned to treat Trump unfairly if elected.
“A nefarious source tells us 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,” read the statement from a Fox News Channel representative.
On the Democratic side, Obama has sought to avoid showing explicit favoritism in the primary. So his sit-down Wednesday with Sanders was being closely watched for any signs of the president’s leanings. White House spokesman Josh Earnest said the meeting would be private and that there would be “no formal agenda.”
Just a day earlier, Clinton had been soaking in presidential praise. In a Politico interview, Obama called her “wicked smart” and immensely qualified to run the country, in his most extensive comments to date on the race. Obama has met with Clinton, his former secretary of state and 2008 primary opponent, periodically. Unlike the Sanders meeting, the White House typically hasn’t disclosed those sessions in advance.
