Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump said Tuesday that he will not participate in Thursday’s Fox News debate, prompting a ‘mano-a-mano’ debate proposition from Texas Sen. Ted Cruz—and inspiring use of the #DuckingDonald and #DonaldDuck Twitter hashtags.
Trump said he would skip the debate unless Fox dropped Megyn Kelly as a moderator; Trump has feuded with Kelly ever since her tough questioning of him during the first debate. Fox has said it won’t budge. “Trump is still welcome at Thursday night’s debate and will be treated fairly, just as he has been during his 132 appearances on FOX News & FOX Business, but he can’t dictate the moderators or the questions,” the network said.
Twitter users quickly drew comparisons between Trump’s decision to “duck” out of the debate and the situations he might back out of if he’s elected commander-in-chief.
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Write to Katie Reilly at Katie.Reilly@time.com