Donald Trump Will Not Participate in Fox News Debate

Republican frontrunner Donald Trump will not attend Thursday's Fox News debate, his campaign said Tuesday evening.

"Mr. Trump will not be participating in the Fox debate," campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said. "It's not under negotiation."

The announcement came after Trump said at a press conference he "most likely" would not participate. The real estate mogul cited a snarky statement put out hours before by a Fox News spokesperson and the network's refusal to remove host Megyn Kelly as a moderator.

.@realDonaldTrump: "Most likely, I won't be doing the [Fox News] debate" https://t.co/QarhfsYDuK https://t.co/TH0Twtswco

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 26, 2016

“I probably won’t be doing the debate," Trump said, adding, "Now let’s see how many people watch. We’ll have our own event."

The billionaire businessman said he would instead host another event and raise money for veterans.

He then continued his attacks on host Megyn Kelly.

"Megyn Kelly is a lightweight," he said. "This isn't a reporter. This is a lightweight."

.@realDonaldTrump: "Let Fox play its games" https://t.co/QarhfsYDuK https://t.co/5vrVPXLZxl

— CNN Politics (@CNNPolitics) January 26, 2016

A Fox News spokesperson did not immediately respond to a request for comment from TheBlaze.

Trump made news earlier in the morning by posting a poll on Twitter asking, “Should I do the #GOPDebate?” At the time of publication, nearly 23,000 votes had been cast. 53 percent responded “yes” while 47 percent responded “no.”

Trump suggested in a CNN interview Monday that he might skip the debate because Fox News host Megyn Kelly is one of the moderators. Earlier this weekend, Trump demanded she be barred from moderating.

Throughout the week, Fox News has responded to Trump's threats by releasing sharp statements in return. On Monday, a Fox News spokesperson said the network was "very surprised he’s willing to show that much fear about being questioned by Megyn Kelly."

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