Ted Cruz dares Donald Trump to have a 'mano a mano' debate

Ted Cruz campaigns in Iowa. — (Image credit: Brendan Hoffman/Getty Images)

Minutes after Donald Trump's campaign announced Tuesday afternoon he wouldn't be participating in Thursday's Fox News debate, rival Ted Cruz challenged Trump to a one-on-one debate.

"I am happy to go an hour-and-a-half, no moderators, any time before the Iowa caucuses," Cruz said during an appearance on The Mark Levin Show. He said he'd also be happy to have Levin, Sean Hannity, or Rush Limbaugh moderate the debate, so long as he could go "mano a mano" with Trump. "I think this is something that the men and women of Iowa deserve, they deserve candidates who are not afraid of the hard questions," he said. By skipping the Fox News debate, Cruz added, Trump is showing a "lack of respect for the men and women of Iowa."

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Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.