Trump Steals Debate Night

Thousands gathered at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa — the lines stretched for blocks — to see Donald Trump, but to also honor our nation’s veterans.

In a 90-minute event that was part variety show and, mostly, an infomercial for the GOP front-runner, Trump took the spotlight from his seven foes just days before the Iowa caucuses.

Trump, whose Secret Service code name is “Humble,” was the height of humility, using his considerable star power to shine the spotlight of veteran affairs and the men and women in the military. But night’s end, shouting above chants of USA-USA-USA, Trump announced that he had raised more than $6 million for America’s heroes.

Of course, Trump couldn’t ignore the elephant in the room — or rather, the down the street — the Fox News Republican debate. He boycotted it over what he said would be unfair treatment by moderator Megyn Kelly and a demeaning tweet by the network, but again played coy.

“I didn’t want to be here, I have to be honest,” said Trump in reference to his own event., “I’m not going to do the debate out of respect for myself.”

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However, there were signs of a rapprochement between Trump and Fox News. Moments before his event, in a CNN interview with Brianna Keilar, Trump said Fox News called to apologize.

“By the time they apologized, I said ‘Look, the problem is, we now have a big event scheduled,’ ” he said. “Fox could not have been nicer.”

Following Trump’s interview, Fox News said in a statement, “In the course of those conversations, we acknowledged his concerns about a satirical observation we made in order to quell the attacks on Megyn Kelly, and prevent her from being smeared any further. Furthermore, Trump offered to appear at the debate upon the condition that Fox News contribute $5 million to his charities.”

The statement explained further that Fox would not compromise its journalistic standards, nor would they meet Trump’s financial demands.

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In typical Trump fashion, he dubbed his own event “the Academy Awards.”

The event, which was coordinated just 24 hours prior, showcased donors such as Carl Ichan and Phil Ruffin, who contributed large sums of money. Other guests included Diamond and Silk — the YouTube “Stump for Trump stars; decorated veteran John Wayne Walding; and, trotted out to be bit players in their rival’s event, former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum.

Huckabee and Santorum — who happen to be the Iowa caucus winner from 2008 and 2012, respectively — thanked Trump for the invitation and lauded his ability to put veterans before competitive politics. Santorum offered the audience the sobering statistic that 22 veterans commit suicide a day — a theme repeated throughout the rest of the event.

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Walding, an amputee and veteran Green Beret and a friend of Trump’s, lauded the real estate mogul.

“He is unapologetically American,” Walding said.

He and other military veterans presented Trump with a “22” ring that is meant to stand as a symbol to help combat the 22 veterans who commit suicide each day.

While Trump was the star of the show, he continuously brought veterans to the forefront, saying at one point, “Illegal immigrants are being better treated than our vets.”

Over the next few days, pundits will discuss whether it was politically savvy for Trump to skip the final debate before Monday’s Iowa caucuses. But regardless of the outcome, Trump won the night at least in part by celebrating the very people who fight to protect our freedoms.

Some have argued that the whole event was a political stunt. But Trump has a long history of supporting veterans’ organizations, and from the beginning of debate season had asked for the networks to donate their commercial revenue to veterans groups.

“Just to end an amazing evening, you veterans are amazing people,” Trump said as the event concluded.

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