Who else but Donald Trump could boycott a debate featuring seven top Republican presidential candidates but still be at the center of attention?
The billionaire's decision to withdraw from the final debate before the Iowa caucus because of a feud with host Fox News, and his simultaneous televised fundraiser for wounded soldiers at a packed nearby arena, helped make sure he dominated another news cycle before Monday's vote.
His rivals tried to make the most of the no-show, taking advantage of the Trump-less vacuum to mock the front-runner for skipping the event.
Texas U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz opened by calling his fellow contenders “stupid, fat and ugly,” quickly adding “now we’ve got the Donald Trump portion out of the way.” Florida U.S. Sen. Marco Rubio dismissed the billionaire as an “entertaining guy — the greatest show on Earth.” And former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, often the target of Trump’s attacks, sarcastically added that he missed Trump, who was a “teddy bear to me.”
The question that could not be answered Thursday was whether Trump’s retreat from the GOP showdown was a shrewd move to avoid sharpening attacks from Cruz and the rest of the field or a devastating mistake that will backfire on him when Iowa voters caucus in three days.
But each of his rivals all jockeyed for a chance to step out of Trump’s shadow and seize a share of his sizable spotlight.
Trump gets trumped
Trump backed out of the debate after Fox News refused to cede to his demands that it drop Megyn Kelly as a moderator for the night’s debate. Instead, he filled up an auditorium at nearby Drake University with cheering fans, as well as former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and ex-Pennsylvania U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum.
There was a tactical reason, too, for Trump’s debate withdrawal. Skipping the event robbed Cruz, who is neck-and-neck with Trump in most Iowa polls, of a final chance to assail him in person before the voting begins.
While the two-hour event was lacking in the pizazz that made the previous showdowns must-see TV, Trump’s no-show gave the contenders more time to dive into nitty-gritty policy divides.
The sharpest clashes in the two-hour event came when Fox News moderators played video clips of Rubio and Cruz outlining their past views on how to handle the more than 11 million illegal immigrants in the U.S.
Rubio, asked why he no longer supports legislation that includes a path to citizenship, tried to dismiss questions about his evolving view on immigration by saying he will bring it under control “once and for all after 30 years of talking about it.”
Bush said Rubio led one immigration effort and sought support from him and others before abandoning it when it proved politically unpopular.
“He cut and run, and that’s a tragedy,” Bush said.
Cruz, meanwhile, was confronted with video footage of his own seemingly contrasting statements on immigration since 2013. Rubio seized the moment, saying Cruz was trying to “trump Trump on immigration.”
“The truth is, Ted, throughout this campaign, you’ve been willing to say or do anything in order to get votes.”
A final pitch
The other candidates pounced on the chance to make a final debate pitch to evangelicals and other conservatives who dominate the GOP electorate in Iowa.
Rubio worked to persuade Iowans who spurn the anti-establishment candidates Trump and Cruz to rally around him as the mainstream choice. He said he would ensure that captured terrorists would be forced to reveal secrets at the Guantanamo Bay base in Cuba, and he promised a robust military response.
“We are going to rebuild our intelligence agencies, and they are going to tell us where the terrorists are,” Rubio said.
Retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, who has plummeted in the national standings after a series of foreign policy flubs, cast himself as the only candidate who can handle the stress of the job.
“I’ve had more 2 a.m. phone calls here than everyone else put together,” Carson said.
Ohio Gov. John Kasich cast his attention toward the Feb. 9 New Hampshire primary, noting the newspaper endorsements he’s picked up in New England. And Kentucky U.S. Sen. Rand Paul muscled his way into many questions after rejoining the mainstage following his boycott of the last GOP showdown when his poor poll numbers relegated him to a lower-profile time slot.
The only candidate not on stage who got as much mention as Trump was Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton, usually the biggest target of GOP ire. New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie ducked a few chances to attack his GOP rivals to critique the Democrat’s use of a private email server.
“She put America’s secrets at risk for her convenience,” Christie said. “She is not qualified to be president of the United States.”
About the Author
