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Trump to skip second Fox News debate

by Jesse Byrnes - 03/16/16 8:48 AM ET

"I'm not going to be doing the [@Foxnews] debate."
–@realDonaldTrump https://t.co/D8DofXStMZ

— FOX & Friends (@foxandfriends) March 16, 2016

Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump announced Wednesday on Fox News that he would be skipping the network’s next GOP debate, set for Monday in Salt Lake City.

“I won’t be there, no,” Trump said during a telephone interview on “Fox and Friends.”

{mosads}Instead, Trump said he would be making a “major speech” at the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) conference.

The two-hour debate, the fourth on the network so far, will air on the eve of voting in Arizona and Utah.

“I thought the last debate on CNN was the last debate, that was going to be it. Nobody told me there were going to be more debates,” Trump said on “Fox and Friends.” “I think we’ve had enough debates.”

Republicans have held 12 presidential debates so far this cycle. The Utah event was added to the primary schedule in February.

“How many times can the same people ask you the same question?” Trump asked.

Trump has long bragged about the ratings he brings to the debates, though he’s called them “a terrible waste of time” and skipped a Fox News debate in January while openly feuding with the news organization.

“You know who loves them? The networks love them,” Trump said Wednesday.

Trump late Tuesday may have reignited the feud with Fox host Megyn Kelly, who is slated to reprise her role as a debate moderator with Breit Baier and Chris Wallace.

He sent several tweets referring to the star anchor as “crazy.” He declined to address the matter during a round of television interviews on Wednesday morning.

The debate comes after Trump added to his delegate lead with a string of wins in Florida, North Carolina, Illinois and possibly Missouri — where he leads Ted Cruz by two-tenths of a percent — forcing Marco Rubio out of the race though leaving John Kasich with a victory in Ohio.

Kasich and Cruz are pushing to keep Trump below the necessary 1,237-delegate threshold needed for the nomination, insisting they’ll push forward in the coming months.

Meanwhile, Trump has urged Republicans to unite behind his campaign to avoid a brokered convention. He has benefitted from a large field, and appearing on stage with just two rivals could diminish his pitch as the presumed nominee.

Tags Donald Trump Fox News GOP debates Marco Rubio Ted Cruz