DES MOINES – Presidential candidate Donald Trump demanded $5 million from Fox News in order for him to appear at the scheduled GOP debate Thursday night. Trump's campaign also surmised that the debate viewer ratings would plummet as a result of him not participating.
"…Trump offered to appear at the debate upon the condition that FOX News contribute $5 million to his charities. We explained that was not possible and we could not engage in a quid pro quo, nor could any money change hands for any reason," Fox News said in a release.
Fox News said there were three conversations between Trump and Roger Ailes, and they could not negotiate an agreeable arrangement – so Trump set up a competing event for a veterans' charity.
Thursday's ratings were not as high as the Fox News debate in August, which had a 25 rating. Thursday's ratings were 8.4, meaning 8.4% of American metered market homes with TV sets were watching. Fox's ratings held pretty steady between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. ET — which means the audience was loyal even though Trump was absent.
However, Trump's event at nearby Drake University – shown on CNN and MSNBC, combined – drew in about a quarter of Fox's audience. The auditorium held 900 people, while a thousand or so stood outside and watched via a big screen.
Trump's name was mentioned several times during the GOP debate as moderator Megyn Kelly said, the "elephant not in the room."
"… Let me say I'm a maniac and everyone on this stage is stupid, fat, and ugly. And Ben, you're a terrible surgeon," Ted Cruz said. "Now that we've gotten the Donald Trump portion out of the way…" he went on.
Marco Rubio said Trump is "an entertaining guy. He's the greatest show on earth."
"I kind of miss Donald Trump. He was a little teddy bear to me," Jeb Bush said.
Iowa's party caucuses will be held next Monday, February 1.
