TRUMP: 'Why are we doing these debates?'
"Aren't these debates ridiculous, though?" the Republican presidential frontrunner asked his supporters at an Oklahoma City rally.
Trump even floated the possibility of not going to the next debate on Thursday, hosted by Fox News.
"How about if I don't do the next debate? Yes?" he asked before reversing himself: "Ah, no, I'll do it."
Trump famously skipped a Fox-hosted debate last month while complaining about Megyn Kelly, one of the moderators for the event. Kelly is set to return as one of the moderators for next week's debate.
At his Friday-night rally in Oklahoma, Trump focused his debate criticism on the predictability of the prime-time bouts. He said he knew what his four remaining competitors - retired neurosurgeon Ben Carson, Ohio Gov. John Kasich, and Sens. Ted Cruz of Texas and Marco Rubio of Florida - would say.
Trump said:
But you look at what's going on and you say, "Why are we doing these debates? What's the purpose? How many times can you say the same thing over and over?" I can give you the answers of the governor, the two senators. I can give you every single answer. I can also say Ben will complain about not being asked a question. And he's right! It's not fair. But I can give you the answers. It's like they're coming out of your ears!
As he has done before, the former reality-television star also pointed out that his participation has helped draw big ratings for the Republican debates. He also called on the networks to donate some of their ad revenue to charity.
"This is like the Super Bowl of cable television. Last night's did very, very, well - you know, just fantastic numbers," Trump said of the CNN-hosted debate the night before.
"I have to tell you, four years ago, they did very badly," he added. "I wonder what the difference is, right? We wonder what. So now we have another one coming up next Thursday and it just feels so ridiculous."