Mitt Romney Rejects Donald Trump Debate Invite

GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney has rejected an invite to attend a Republican debate set to be moderated by real estate mogul Donald Trump later this month, he said Tuesday.

"I'm not participating," Romney said during an interview on Fox News. "I spoke with Donald Trump earlier today and indicated that we just can't make this debate."

Asked how Trump took it, Romney said it went over without incident.

"He understood my perspective and wished me well," Romney replied.

(Video of Romney on Fox News above, via Mediate)

Donald Trump, through a spokesman, sends over a response to Romney's decision not to attend the debate he is hosting.

"It would seem logical to me that if I was substantially behind in the polls, especially in Iowa, South Carolina, and Florida, I would be participating in the debate. But, I can also understand why Governor Romney decided not to do it."

This isn't exactly the most searing criticism of Romney. But it's a swipe nonetheless.

Romney joins fellow candidates Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul, who have both explicitly said they won't partake in the Dec. 27 event taking place in Des Moines, Iowa.

On Monday, Trump said he wouldn't be bothered by their absence, calling them both "joke candidates."

Candidates Newt Gingrich, who met with Trump this week in New York, and Rick Santorum are the only ones to have confirmed their attendance to the debate, which will be sponsored by conservative outlet NewsMax and broadcast on the ION television network.

Comments

[David Olend]

02:30 PM on 12/09/2011

Allowing Mr. Trump to use the term 'independent' is an insult to non-party-affiliated voters across the political spectrum. If he runs, the affiliation next to his name should be the Self Party. Self-centered, self-promoting, self-aggrandizing, and (thankfully) ultimately self-defeating.

[dominoe]

07:51 PM on 12/07/2011

AS A LIFELONG REPUBLICAN, I FIND IT HARD TO VOTE FOR A PARTY WHO WOULD ALLOW DONALD TRUMP TO MODERATE A DEBATE OF ANY KIND. I COMMEND ROMNEY FOR HIS REFUSAL TO PARTICIPATE. THIS IS NOTHING MORE THAN TRUMP TRYING TO MAKE HIMSELF LOOK BETTER THAN THE CANDIDATES. WHY WOULD YOU ALLOW HIM OF ALL PEOPLE TO BE PUT IN THE SPOTLIGHT? WHO IS RUNNING THIS PARTY?

[bbron24]

12:17 AM on 12/08/2011

Thank you!

[Assumed Name]

06:42 PM on 12/07/2011

Mittens isn't very smooth, is he? :o)

[tlgpa]

03:40 PM on 12/07/2011

Well there is it... Romney will be doing the Trump debate. He flop flops on everything else. So of course this means he'll be joining the debate.

[Diane Godbout]

02:16 PM on 12/09/2011

Where did you hear that? I never got news that he would do that?

[eltito]

01:39 PM on 12/07/2011

what kind of a debate Trump's got in hand with only two candidates participating? this is a joke on the Donald!!!!!

[Patrick Fogarty]

01:08 PM on 12/07/2011

I don't know how this , so called debate , is to be conducted and I can't see where it will hurt Newt Gingrich nor will it do much to help Rick Santorum . It does more for Donald and that isn't saying much either . Mr Trump loves to look in the mirror . The slanted view he sees of himself is not the true image as seen by some others including myself . The other candidates have done the right thing by avoiding the dubious honor of his invitation .

[Arn Arn]

12:50 PM on 12/07/2011

I'm going to hate to see the battle for the Republican nomination end. It has been one of the most entertaining clown parades ever. Trump is the icing on the cake! He is the epitome of the GOP.

[Patrick Fogarty]

01:22 PM on 12/07/2011

Jealous , oh barf !! Contemptuos is the word . I and others that have had the misfortune of dealing with someone like Mr Trump have no reason to want to be associated or live in any way like that man . In refining gold the impurities rise to the top of the ladle ; scooped off then discarded .

[ZANDALEE]

12:37 PM on 12/07/2011

I am not a Donald Trump lover but I must say that most of you who dislike him are very jealous. I would love to have done as many business deals in my life as he has.

[tlgpa]

03:39 PM on 12/07/2011

I'm not jealous of someone who Filed for Bankruptcy 4 Times. If it wasn't for government bailouts, Trump would be a homeless bum!
Trump has had 19 buisness failures in less than 17 years. He's left others hanging for hundreds of billions of dollars.

[abscs2000]

10:53 AM on 12/08/2011

Speak for yourself, zandalee. You may be jealous of Trump, but the vast majority are of us are horrified and appalled by him. He's a vulgarian.

[ichibonhoncho]

12:35 PM on 12/07/2011

My comment disappeared. Here it is again. Why would any committed serious Republican support ANY of the current pretenders? Our country needs a strong, principled leader like Mayor Blumberg who is willing to compromise for the good of the country not for the suppiort of the Tea Party. The mayor has actually said the economy needs both higher taxes and sepnding cuts. Anathema to the
blind baggers. THe Baggers would have been so happy in England when the undeserving poor were \
sent to debtors' prisons.

[abscs2000]

10:58 AM on 12/08/2011

Yeah, but Bloomberg has become an arrogant horse's ass since he was elected to a third term. Do you live in NYC? He has now announced that if he had the power, he'd fire half the public school teachers, double the salaries of the ones retained, and DOUBLE the size of classes to an average of 55 students per class! In the next breath he's talking about the importance of education. Do you believe for a moment that he'd have found 55 students per class acceptable for his own daughters? He's completely out of touch.

[Donald Chase]

12:34 PM on 12/07/2011

Romney's current strategy is to allow his buddies on the left to destroy as many of the other candidates as pollible while he hides in a closet until he hopes he is the last man standing. Sorry Mitt that strategy is going to kill your chances as more and more of us see you for the coward you really are. We do not need nor do we want a Mini Me Obama in the Whitehouse so don't be surprised when we decide that one of the others is once again "the lesser evil"! I hate that is what American politics has come to but once again it is all we have.

[ichibonhoncho]

12:24 PM on 12/07/2011

Can any Republican explain to me why the current field is so poor? Without a smart, principled person lke Mayor BLumberg, OB wins again. An electable leader HAS to be willing to compromise.
Tea Party be damned.

[abscs2000]

11:00 AM on 12/08/2011

Geez, you're really pushing Bloomberg, what's the deal?? hahaha

[Michael D OBrien]

11:41 AM on 12/07/2011

'Idiot Candidates' Mr. Trump?
Transference, Mr. Trump?

[bbron24]

11:31 AM on 12/07/2011

Oh Donald, you have so so much to lose too!! How could you? Your so brave.

[nyscasac]

11:19 AM on 12/07/2011

For once I agree with Mitt Romney. I dislike Donald Junk Bond Trump and think he is a pompous cretin who is all about himself and his gigantic ego. He is the real joke and anyone who participates in his circus is a joke. As far a Newt(on) Gingrich goes. He is another Joke of Jokes. Mr. Tiffany and Divorce meister has no place in the oval office except to visit as an ordinary citizen to stand on line and pay for admission on the daily tour.
What a total farce all of this is.....

[Rusty356]

11:07 AM on 12/07/2011

The Donald should not be worrried about Romney's desicion .... he still has plenty of time to change his mind ... (and usually does).