The Republican National Committee has "respect" for Donald Trump's decision to skip Fox News' GOP debate on Thursday evening, committee's chief strategist and communications director said Thursday.
Trump initially threatened to boycott the debate if Fox News host Megyn Kelly was a moderator, as the real estate mogul felt she posed unfair questions to him in a previous debate, The Washington Post noted. Fox News refused to accommodate the request and issued a press release mocking his efforts, which Trump said was the last straw. Instead of debating, Trump will hold a separate event in Iowa at the same time to raise money for veterans.
RNC Chief Strategist and Communications Director Sean Spicer appeared on MSNBC Thursday to address the issue, according to The Washington Examiner. MSNBC host Joe Scarborough asked Spicer why the RNC didn't dispute Kelly's role as moderator, noting that when CNBC moderators asked controversial questions during a previous debate, the RNC suspended all future debates with NBC.
Spicer said that the two situations are vastly different, and while he has respect for Trump's decision, the matter is ultimately between Trump and Fox News.
"I think with respect to this we have a disagreement between a candidate and a moderator in terms of a tone and some of the questions," Spicer said. "There's a difference between an entity coming out pro or con a particular candidate and someone disagreeing with the tone and tenor of a particular moderator. So while I have respect for Mr. Trump's decision, ultimately that's between him and Fox News."
Spicer also denied that the RNC was negotiating to get Trump to show up, saying that the RNC is updating the campaign about the debate.
"We'd love him there; we'd love all of the candidates there. The same way we asked Senator [Rand] Paul to join the last debate, we're going to continue to hope that he changes his mind," Spicer said, according to The Washington Times.
"We can make the accommodations up to pretty close to go time," Spicer added. "But this is an opportunity for all these candidates to show up to give the American people the opportunity [to] hear them right before, especially the Iowa caucuses."
