E-mail updates
Follow on Twitter
Subscribe to RSSDonald Trump withdrew Tuesday as the moderator of a debate planned for later this month in Iowa, citing his interest in possibly still running for president as an independent.
Trump pulled out of a debate he had planned to host along with the conservative magazine Newsmax, scheduled for Dec. 27, just days before the Iowa caucuses. All the GOP presidential candidates save for Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum said they would not participate.
"The Republican Party candidates are very concerned that sometime after the final episode of The Apprentice, on May 20th, when the equal time provisions are no longer applicable to me, I will announce my candidacy for President of the United States as an Independent and that, unless I conclusively agree not to run as an Independent, they will not agree to attend or be a part of the Newsmax debate scheduled for December 27, 2011," Trump said in a statement. "It is very important to me that the right Republican candidate be chosen to defeat the failed and very destructive Obama Administration, but if that Republican, in my opinion, is not the right candidate, I am not willing to give up my right to run as an Independent candidate. Therefore, so that there is no conflict of interest within the Republican Party, I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate. The American people are embarrassed by the gridlock currently taking place in Washington. I must leave all of my options open because, above all else, we must make America great again!"
It's not clear whether any debate with Newsmax will go forward at all. Trump thanked Gingrich and Santorum for their willingness to participate nonetheless.
"I would like to thank Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum for having the courage, conviction, and confidence to immediately accept being a part of the Newsmax debate. I believe this would not only have been the most watched debate, but also the most substantive and interesting debate!" he said.
Leave a Comment:
Trump---EPIC FAIL!!...How Classic...LOL...Mr. Trump, your FIRED!!
oh, noes! how are we going to ever know if any of the GOP candidates approve of that THING on Trump's head?
You mean Donald "Flock of Seagulls" Trump?
Trump=Loser
He is such a tool!
Trump... Go figure. He's a punk - borderline "Kardasian"
the fact that they had trump even lined up to do this gig in the first place is mind blogging -just how low and how sad is the state of the republican party - their whole political party has become a circus - or worse yet the side show at the circus - from their god (pagan) reagan , then they gave us bush/cheney to palin , bachman , santoram , trump , cain , perry , and now newt - priceless - what a freakin train wreck - fun to watch though
Trump may run for president?? I thought the idea was to remove obama from office, not guarantee him 4 more years.
When we are flat-out on our backs........ there is no way to look but up>>>>
How UNPROFESSIONAL of him!!! If Trump truly wants to fire Obama, he will NOT run as an Independent. For crying out loud!
Now who ever accused the Donald of being professional? :-)
So sorry, Trumpy. But, after all the candidates (except a loser and the front-runner) decided to drop out, whattya got left?
Too bad. You could have crowned Bachmann Miss ... well you could have made something up.
If Trump can't see the truth of this he is too blinded by his own interests and influences to even be president. Ron Paul and Huntsmen didn't give a rats patooty if Trump planned to run or not. They were not willing to stoop to a reality show to choose the president.
Gingrich was himself too self absorbed and desperate for Trumps pat on the head of approval to notice. The other candidates stood on the sidelines until they could determine public perception before they could make their decision. So we have a bunch of clueless fools that will lead the country by polling result or are oblivious. Ron Paul not only wisely saw the folly in this debate he didn't need a herd consensus to make his decision. We need a president who is not part of this business as usual herd!
Clearly, The Donald is getting much better PR advise than that half-baked Alaska ex-gov is receiving. The D knows that you have GOT to keep them hooked -- it's just that simple! As Lawrence O'Donnell stated last night on MSNBC, as soon as you announce you are NOT going to be a presidential candidate, your reality show stock PLUMMETS! Poor Sarah, she needs to hire some new publicity hacks. I know some who used to work for Gingrich are available...
.
Now did he make this announcement to build up fake suspense over something that ain't happening anyhow, or did he simply decide he was happy with the publicity he got?
What really amazes me is how the GOP has allowed first the Tea Party and then the Donald to hi-jack the republican party.
Where is their collective spine?
Good match to be Gingrich's pick for Vice President, therefore he couldn't appear as an unbiased moderator.
Donald Trump is not campaigning for public office. He's campaigning for more money from NBC.
The Republicans have enough problems with credibility, they certainly didn't need this gasbags help.
Yeah, sure. He's withdrawing because no one's accepting the invitation to his circus. As for running as an Independent, all he'd be doing would be taking (a few) votes from the Republican candidate and providing a lot of jokes for the late-night comedians.
He's Fired!
what to serve? I suggest toast because they are ALL TOAST! Few people will vote for any of those clowns running as republicans. Donald doesn't care about politics. He just sees another way to get his name out there. He's all ego and no substance so he's fitting right in with the so-called republican candidates. At least the dems are too smart to have a bunch of clowns running. Oh, and Donald, see all these comments? I haven't read all of them, but I read through the first page and there waasn't a single compliment aimed at you. We're all laughing at you, but you're too self absoerbed to figure it out.
you cannot take this man serious...between the hair do and all the hot air he just needs to go back to whatever he does...you're fired...
Trump's mom must have ignored him as a kid. He HAS to be in the spotlight all the time. So seriously insecure- needs years of therapy. What an embarrasment to our country.
The Donald had a loser on his hands and as he always does, he blames some asinine reason for his having to withdraw. he knows damn well he isn't going to run for "jack" and just wanted to distance himself from this loser of a situation.... The Good Ole GOP at their finest hour....
Anna Molly you win!!! The GOP as Shakespearean Characters! Brilliant. That may be the ONLY way to take anything they say as anything other than a joke! As for "The Donald" pppphhhhhtttttttttttt..... he IS done stick a fork in his "campaign".
Reality TV show host? There's nothing remotely real about his show. If it weren't such a low-life production it could almost be classified as a comedy, except it's not funny. It's so far removed from reality that it's right up there with Congress, the Tea Putzes, the Republican party of do nothing, and the Donald himself.