Trump official: Fox debate ratings will plummet

Donald Trump’s campaign manager said early Wednesday he cannot envision high ratings for Fox News’s upcoming presidential debate without the GOP front-runner there.

“I just don’t see in any way where Fox is going to have a successful debate now when you’ve got the clear GOP front-runner who has decided to walk away from this debate because he can’t be treated fairly at the debate state,” Corey Lewandowski said on MSNBC’s “Morning Joe.”

{mosads}“You know, maybe Fox News was going to have a 20 to 25 million-person debate. But without Mr. Trump’s participation, I think they may have a 1 or 2 million-person debate.”

Lewandowski dismissed claims that Trump’s exit from Thursday night’s contest means he fears scrutiny from journalists.

“It’s very hard to appear with someone from a network which is going to be as biased as it has been against him,” he said, referencing debate moderator Megyn Kelly.

“It just doesn’t make sense,” Lewandowski continued. “What we know is that Megyn Kelly is totally obsessed with Mr. Trump. She has done show after show about why the media shouldn’t be having him on television.

“Donald Trump is the best debater on the debate stage. He’s not afraid of debate — he’s done more television and more radio than all the other candidates combined.”

Lewandowski added that the billionaire businessman’s unusual move of sitting out a presidential debate is a sign of strength.

“[Mr. Trump] at best is not going to be toyed with. [He is] a person who understands when a bad deal is in front of him and is ready to walk away from a bad deal.”

Trump vowed late Tuesday to boycott the GOP’s seventh debate in Des Moines, Iowa, four days before the state’s caucuses on Feb. 1.

He is blacklisting the event over Kelly’s selection as a moderator. The pair publicly feuded during their first debate encounter last August.