Donald Trump's "tantrum" on passing up Thursday's debate is more of a fear of facing rival Ted Cruz than co-moderator Megyn Kelly, Rep. Steve King told
Newsmax TV on Wednesday.
"If it is that he's afraid to have a debate with Megyn Kelly asking the questions, I suspect it has to do more with Ted Cruz than it does Megyn Kelly," the Iowa Republican told "Newsmax Prime" host J.D. Hayworth. "We'll find out if Donald Trump will rise to the challenge.
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"If he doesn't rise to the challenge, you can bet at least in his significant part it was Ted Cruz that he didn't want any part of."
King, who endorsed the Texas senator's nomination bid in November, cited how Cruz effectively used Trump's own description of "New York values" from a 1999 interview after the last debate to boost his standing among voters.
"We've also seen the impact of the confrontation between Ted Cruz and Donald Trump in the last debate, where in the first 24 or 36 hours, Trump believed he got the better of Ted Cruz," he told Hayworth. "But after the public learned that it was actually Donald Trump's own words of characterizing New York values that Ted Cruz had used had started to swing back the other way.
"I just don't think Donald Trump wants any more of that — and I think he fears that he could lose an opportunity at the nomination during the debate on Thursday night."
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