Donald Trump’s campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said Wednesday that Fox News host Megyn Kelly is “completely obsessed” with Trump.
Appearing on ABC’s “Good Morning America,” on Wednesday, Lewandowski argued that Trump is upset with Fox News because of its press release that was “mocking the front-runner.”(VIDEO: Trump Backs Out Of Fox News Debate)
Regarding the possibility of Trump showing up, Lewandowski said, “The short answer is, I just don’t think so. Look, here’s where we are. Megyn Kelly is totally obsessed with Mr. Trump. She’s done multiple shows on why he shouldn’t even be involved in this race on television. She’s completely obsessed with him. It’s impossible to have a fair and honest debate.” (RELATED: Drama Continues: Trump Questions Megyn Kelly’s Bias Ahead Of Fox News Debate [VIDEO])
“Donald Trump is the best debater on that stage,” Lewandowski claimed. “He has participated in six debates. He’s won every single one by every poll. He’s not afraid to debate anybody. He does more television and radio interviews than all other candidates combined. He’s answered every question, including yours, multiple times. You know that. So this is not that issue. The issue is an issue of fairness. And when they want to up out a release, or a press release mocking the front-runner, that’s not appropriate to have someone like that on the debate stage.”
Host George Stephanopoulos then asked Lewandowski about Trump’s tweet from Wednesday morning where he said, “I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!” Adding, “Why not go up on the stage and take the question [from Kelly]?” (VIDEO: Trump: ‘Every Once In A While, I Like To Be Politically Incorrect’)
I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 27, 2016
Lewandowski replied that Trump is “not afraid to take the question. He’s been on six debate stages. He’s won every single one and every online poll said that. He answers every question from every reporter including yours. You know that. He’s happy to sit down, he’s happy to do the interviews, he’s happy to answer the questions that the American people want to hear about. What Fox wants to do is they want to have 24 million people tune in to watch Donald Trump so that their anchors can have the story about them. This is what happened in the first Fox debate. No one was actually talking about the answers that the candidates gave. They were all talking about the moderator’s questions. That’s the exact same thing that happened with CNBC. The RNC realized it was such a disaster with the CNBC debate that they removed NBC from future debates because when it’s about the moderators, that’s not what the American people are here to watch.” (VIDEO: Cruz Unloads On CNBC For Media Bias)
Regarding Sen. Ted Cruz’s challenge for a one-on-one debate with Trump before the Iowa caucuses, Lewandowski said, “Look, Ted Cruz, if he’s the last man standing and it comes down to a two-person race, Donald Trump will be happy to debate him.” (AUDIO: Cruz Challenges Trump To One-On-One Debate)
“You know, Ted Cruz talked about how great his campaign is and that he’s got the greatest ground game in the history of Iowa,” Lewandowski said. “You know, what we see is that his position on ethanol has flipped and flopped. We see that Gov. Branstad has come out and said that Ted Cruz should not be elected in the state of Iowa, which is a remarkable feat for a sitting governor.” (RELATED: Iowa’s Republican Governor: Don’t Vote For Ted Cruz)
“We see that you know, a number of people have come out and basically said Mr. Trump is the best person in this race for the state of Iowa and moving forward, including Jerry Falwell Jr. So look, it’s up to the people of Iowa to decide who ultimately on Monday is going to be the caucus winner, but I can tell you Donald Trump is in the state of Iowa competing everyday for votes in that caucus and we will be here all weekend.” (RELATED: Jerry Falwell Jr. Endorses Donald Trump For President)
Steph then asked Lewandowski about the optics of an empty podium for the Fox News debate and Lewandowski said, “Look, you know what it is, when Donald Trump goes tomorrow night into Des Moines, Iowa and we start raising money for veterans and wounded warriors and we have multiples of millions of dollars raised for these people and the American people tune in because they want to support that, Fox has to go back and say they should have had 24 million people watching their debate and instead they got one million.”
“You know, it’s a disservice to the American people,” Lewandowski said. “You and I both know the only reason their ratings are as high as they were on the first debate was because Donald Trump was on the stage. It was the highest rated cable television show in the history of TV, and that was strictly because Donald Trump was on the stage. And my guess is, that people who bought advertising time thinking that Donald Trump was going to be on that stage are going to be very disappointed when nobody decides to watch that GOP debate tomorrow night because politicians are all talk and no action. They’re never solve the problem.”
