Cruz Challenges Trump To ‘Mano-a-Mano’ Debate Before Iowa Caucuses

RESTRICTION: NO New York or New Jersey Newspapers or newspapers within a 75 mile radius of New York CityDonald Trump, a candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States, shakes hands wi... RESTRICTION: NO New York or New Jersey Newspapers or newspapers within a 75 mile radius of New York CityDonald Trump, a candidate for the 2016 Republican nomination for President of the United States, shakes hands with US Senator Ted Cruz (Republican of Texas), also a candidate for the GOP nomination for President, shake hands as they appear at a rally against the Iran Nuclear Deal Tea Party rally against the Iran nuclear deal, Capitol Hill, Washington DC, America - 09 Sep 2015 (Rex Features via AP Images) MORE LESS
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Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) challenged rival Donald Trump to a one-on-one confrontation Wednesday night, just hours after the real estate mogul announced he was dropping out of Thursday’s Republican presidential debate.

“We’ll do 90 minutes, Lincoln-Douglas, mano-a-mano, Donald and me,” Cruz told an audience in Fairfield, Iowa, according to NBC News. “He can lay out his vision for this country, and I can lay out my vision for this country in front of the men and women of Iowa.”

The Trump campaign’s last-minute announcement came after Fox News strongly defended debate moderator Megyn Kelly, who Trump has claimed is “biased” against him. Their one-sided feud began last fall after the real estate mogul accused her of having “blood coming out of her whatever” because he disliked the questions she asked him during the first Republican presidential debate.

Cruz accused Trump of being “scared to face Megyn Kelly” and told the Fairfield crowd he was a “fragile soul,” according to NBC.

He also launched a late-night petition drive asking voters to support the head-to-head debate, referring to his GOP rival as “ducking Donald.”

“My friend Donald Trump is happy to sling insults and speculate from afar, while tearing others down to try and lift himself up,” the email petition reads. “But now he is refusing to debate matters of substance.”

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  1. Avatar for imkmu3 imkmu3 says:

    “We’ll do 90 minutes, Lincoln-Douglas, mano-a-mano, Donald and me,”

    I read that and I didn’t know whether to laugh hysterically or sob in my coffee.

    1. Only a douchebag begins a sentence with “You see,”

    2. Does Cruz speak Spanish? He might want to look up “mano-a-mano” unless he plans on either grappling with or holding hands with Trump.

    Actually, that would be good television.

  2. he’s really challenging him to an arm wrestling contest…

  3. No, he does not. He turned down a debate in the 2012 Senate race in Spanish, admitting that he doesn’t speak the language.

  4. It’s a bit desperate, but it has very little downside, since the RNC pretty much hates both candidates. If Trump were to accept,expect to see Rubio and co. pitch a huge hissy fit. And expect Cruz to take some more incoming fire over merely making this offer from everybody else on the stage.

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