Donald Trump goes on raging tweetstorm about Megyn Kelly and the 'total disaster' debate he's boycotting
"The 'debate' tonight will be a total disaster - low ratings with advertisers and advertising rates dropping like a rock. I hate to see this," the Republican presidential front-runner wrote.
The real-estate tycoon had told Fox host Bill O'Reilly the night before that he hopes Fox does "well," even though he said the network would "make much less" money without him on stage.
Trump also continued his assault on Kelly, with whom he has feuded for months.
One tweet, which Trump promoted on his account Thursday morning, attacked Kelly for a GQ Magazine photoshoot and labeled her a "bimbo."
"And this is the bimbo that's asking presidential questions?" the tweet said. The user attached two photos from the shoot with the following text on the image: "Criticizes Trump for objectifying women. ... Poses like this in GQ Magazine."
The candidate shared the post a day after he had said he wouldn't refer to Kelly as a "bimbo," a term used to insult women, because doing so would "not be politically correct."
Trump drew some backlash last year when he twice promoted tweets calling Kelly a "bimbo." One of the times Trump retweeted the insult was after Kelly, a moderator at an August debate, confronted him about past comments he had made about women's looks.
He also shared an image that falsely claimed Prince Alwaleed bin Talal of Saudi Arabia had posed with Kelly and is "the co-owner" of Fox News. According to Snopes, the photo is fake, and the Saudi prince's investment firm owns a minority share in Twenty-First Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News.
Trump has raged against Kelly and her coverage of his campaign since that debate. And the Fox host played a key role in Trump's big Tuesday announcement that he would not be attending the debate.
On Wednesday, Trump's campaign announced plans to host a dueling event in Iowa during the Fox-hosted debate. It said the event would be held to benefit veterans' organizations.
Trump refused to back down from his stance Wednesday night, when he appeared on the Fox host O'Reilly's show. On Thursday, he claimed that "two candidates" had contacted him about attending his Iowa event Thursday night.
View part of Trump's tweetstorm below:
Colin Campbell contributed reporting.