--- title: Republican Debate: Donald Trump Blasts "Unfair" Questions description: Republican front-runner Donald Trump did not like the tenor of the questions asked of him by Fox News during Thursday's debate. canonical: https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/ author: Zeke Miller article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-08-07T04:43:16.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-19T07:47:09.226Z article:section: Politics og:title: Donald Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions og:description: "The questions to me were not nice." og:url: https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 594 og:image:height: 334 og:image:alt: Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Donald Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions twitter:description: "The questions to me were not nice." twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=594&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions > Sponsored content. 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It explains the politics, personalities and power dynamics behind the headlines, three times a week. #### Where can I get analysis of Washington politics by email? D.C. Brief is TIME's free Washington politics newsletter, available at time.com/newsletters. It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 7, 2015 4:43 AM UTC  Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio. MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images by [Zeke Miller](https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/) ## Zeke Miller Aug 7, 2015 4:43 AM UTC Republican front-runner Donald Trump believes he won Thursday’s inaugural Republican presidential debate, but he’s still bristling over the tenor of the questions asked of him by Fox News. “The questions to me were not nice,” Trump told a crowded mass of reporters in “spin alley” after the debate. “I didn’t think they were appropriate.” From the outset, the real estate mogul was pressed on his commitment to the Republican Party, controversial statements about women and immigrants, his business record and shifting positions on issues, resulting in some tense moments on stage. Trump reserved his harshest criticism for Fox News host Megyn Kelly, who pressed him on a history of critical and insulting remarks about women, complaining, “I think Megyn behaved very nasty to me.” “I thought it was an unfair question,” he said. “They didn’t ask those questions of anybody else. So I thought it was an unfair question.” Trump said he would not call Fox News boss Roger Ailes to complain about his treatment, however. After the debate, Michael Cohen, Trump’s special counsel, criticized Fox News contributor and pollster Frank Luntz over a televised focus group in which Republicans criticized Trump for refusing to pledge to back the ultimate GOP nominee and rule out a third party run. > [](https://twitter.com/MichaelCohen212/status/629494998434750464) Trump was still floating a potential independent candidacy after the debate, telling reporters he believes he would beat Hillary Clinton either way. “I would beat her definitely as a Republican, an independent is tougher,” he said. Trump said he enjoyed the opportunity to mingle with his rivals, expressing praise for former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush for declining to criticize him on stage. “I really had a good time,” Trump said. “I think it was an amazing debate. I got to know some of the \[other candidates\] and they really are incredible people.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/"},"headline":"Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions","datePublished":"2015-08-07T04:43:16.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-19T07:47:09.226Z","description":"Republican front-runner Donald Trump did not like the tenor of the questions asked of him by Fox News during Thursday's debate.","url":"https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/","keywords":["Debates","2016 Election","debate","jeb bush","Donald Trump","fox news","Megyn Kelly"],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Zeke Miller","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/zeke-j-miller/"}],"articleSection":"Politics","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt57e27dba134d4070/69885e4e0b72e31dbc6e54a4/donald-trump-debate-questions.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.","caption":"Real estate tycoon Donald Trump speaks during the prime time Republican presidential debate on August 6, 2015 at the Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland, Ohio.","creditText":"MANDEL NGAN—AFP/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/politics/","name":"Politics"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/debates/","name":"Debates"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/3988424/republican-debate-donald-trump-complaint/","name":"Trump Blasts 'Nasty,' 'Unfair' Debate Questions"}}]}] ```