Fox draws 12.5 million viewers to Trump-less GOP debate

On the Democrats’ side, candidates who won both states nearly always ended up with the nomination.

He says the race in Iowa comes down to continuing with “establishment politics and economics”, or the nation having the “courage” to help working families.

As his rivals made their final case to voters ahead of Iowa’s kickoff caucuses, Donald Trump was headlining a show of his own. Both, of course, lost the general election.

Cruz, King and Zimmerman all went hunting together in Iowa in October.

Ted Cruz has crisscrossed Iowa, headed to all 99 counties and has aggressively targeted this state’s evangelical voters. Full viewership numbers will be released later on Friday, CNN said. He calls it “sort of sad, bittersweet that it’s ending”. Jeb Bush hired a top Iowa operative and had 30 paid staffers to build his operation here, while saying last summer that he still hoped to win the Hawkeye State.

Trump skipped out on the debate, the seventh in the run-up to the important Iowa Caucuses, because of an ongoing feud with Fox News, the host of the event.

The only thing that’s certain after all of the Trump vs. FNC ratings kabuki is that Megyn Kelly was the centerpiece of the two highest ratings grabs in the network’s history and Donny’s alleged sabotage ploy was a monumental fail, if that really was his aim.

Trump argued he came out on top in his fight with Fox News, too.

Inside the morning rally in Nashua, Trump implored voters to turn out for him on primary day.

“When you’re treated badly, you have to stick up for your rights”, he said.

“She is not qualified to be president of the United States”, New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie said. In Iowa it’s a battle between Donald Trump and Ted Cruz.

But Christie said at a Friday rally that low expectations leave room for surprise.

He tells supporters that on Monday “you are going to show, as am I, that real leadership matters, that strong leadership matters and that the people of Iowa know how to pick a strong leader”.

Mr. Trump’s campaign couldn’t be reached for comment.

“Here’s the beauty of me”, Trump said, “I have a microphone where I can speak back”.

He says such immediate responses weren’t possible in the “old days” before the social media platform came along. Rubio was challenged to defend his past statements as a candidate for Senate where he opposed “blanket amnesty”, but then went on to lead a bipartisan Senate group that would have allowed people to seek citizenship after a series of other requirements.

Republican presidential candidate Ted Cruz, as well as Democratic contenders Hillary Clinton and Bernie Sanders, have been particularly aggressive in running YouTube ads targeted specifically at people in Iowa, according to people familiar with the matter.

“We’re not going to round up and deport 12 million people”, Rubio said, speaking on his campaign bus from eastern Iowa. All candidates must report their year-end fundraising and spending activities to federal regulators by Sunday night. The Texas senator’s campaign announced Friday it started the year with about $19 million in available money, giving him a financial edge over most of his Republican rivals.

Donald Trump snubbed an invitation to Thursday night’s Republican presidential debate. “Millions in campaign contributions and speaking fees”.

The candidates largely sidestepped direct confrontations with each other, focusing some of their most pointed attacks on Democratic front-runner Hillary Clinton.

Ted Cruz, the Rubio campaign feels like it is exactly where it wants to be headed into Monday night. Trump often claims on the campaign trail that he is responsible for strong viewership of Republican debates. Instead, Trump held an impromptu benefit for veterans at the same time.

Trump maintains a commanding lead in New Hampshire polls despite his decision not to follow the traditional rules of campaigning in the first primary state.