--- title: Donald Trump Republican Debate Boycott Sparks #DuckingDonald description: Donald Trump said he will not participate in Thursday's debate, prompting a debate proposition from Ted Cruz and inspiring #DuckingDonald canonical: https://time.com/4195565/donald-trump-republican-debate-fox-news-duckingdonald/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-01-27T15:28:08.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-22T14:28:41.636Z article:section: Politics og:title: #DuckingDonald Targets Trump's Debate Boycott og:description: The hashtag picked up steam with Sen. Ted Cruz's one-on-one debate proposal og:url: https://time.com/4195565/donald-trump-republican-debate-fox-news-duckingdonald/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe8f52f23cf7a0e/69887ab82dce016d639e7857/trump6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump Campaigns Throughout Iowa og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: #DuckingDonald Targets Trump's Debate Boycott twitter:description: The hashtag picked up steam with Sen. Ted Cruz's one-on-one debate proposal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt2fe8f52f23cf7a0e/69887ab82dce016d639e7857/trump6.jpg?branch=production&width=3840&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # #DuckingDonald Targets Trump's Debate Boycott  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 27, 2016 3:28 PM UTC  Donald Trump speaks to the press prior to a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa, Jan. 26, 2016. Donald Trump speaks to the press prior to a rally in Marshalltown, Iowa, Jan. 26, 2016.Scott Olson—Getty Images  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Jan 27, 2016 3:28 PM UTC Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump [said Tuesday that he will not participate](http://time.com/4195194/donald-trump-skip-fox-debate/) in Thursday’s Fox News debate, prompting a [‘mano-a-mano’ debate proposition](https://www.tedcruz.org/l/ducking-donald/) 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.](http://nation.foxnews.com/2016/01/26/fox-news-official-statement-trumps-decision-not-participate-debate) “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. > [](https://twitter.com/tedcruz/status/692183580638842880) > [](https://twitter.com/rkylesmith/status/692162968235163648) > [](https://twitter.com/AdamBaldwin/status/692242690973569026) > [](https://twitter.com/ron%5Ffournier/status/692174120994365442) > [](https://twitter.com/DavidIRamadan/status/692166524715560960) > [](https://twitter.com/jpodhoretz/status/692159151410188290) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4195565/donald-trump-republican-debate-fox-news-duckingdonald/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4195565/donald-trump-republican-debate-fox-news-duckingdonald/"},"headline":"#DuckingDonald Targets Trump's Debate Boycott","datePublished":"2016-01-27T15:28:08.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-22T14:28:41.636Z","description":"The hashtag picked up steam with Sen. 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