Texas Sen. Ted Cruz on Tuesday challenged GOP presidential front-runner Donald Trump to a one-on-one debate after Trump said he won't appear at Thursday's Fox News debate.
"If Donald is afraid of Megyn Kelly I would like to invite him on your show to participate in a one-on-one debate between me and Donald, mano-a-mano," Cruz told talk radio host Mark Levin.
Trump has said Fox shouldn't allow Kelly to be one of the moderators after she asked him questions about his treatment of women in the first debate in August. Fox responded that Kelly would remain and taunted Trump's aversion to appearing with her.
Trump said in an Iowa press conference Tuesday the response sounded like it was written by a child and that
he would not attend the debate.
"The fact that Donald is now afraid to appear on the debate stage, that he doesn't want his record questioned, I think that reflects a lack of respect for the men and women of Iowa," Cruz told Levin.
"If Donald is afraid of Megyn Kelly I would like to invite him on your show to participate in a one-on-one debate between me and Donald, mano-a-mano," he said. If Trump doesn't want Levin or someone else to moderate he would be happy to debate without one, Cruz added.
Levin called that a "great idea" and said if Trump is up to it his campaign should contact him.