Fox News' Iowa focus group has some interesting thoughts on Donald Trump's debate absence
Almost all of the Iowa Republicans impaneled by pollster Frank Luntz to judge Thursday night's Fox News Republican debate said Donald Trump should have attended the face-off, but they split about evenly on whether it was a smart move. "He should have been on that stage tonight," said a voter named Aaron, "but he inflicted some serious damage on [Sen. Ted] Cruz. Cruz had to take the arrows tonight, and I think it now is a Trump-Rubio contest." Others said Trump showed disrespect to Iowans by not showing up. In fact, most of the people in the focus group agreed that Trump doesn't "respect the people of Iowa," but many still said he's going to win the caucuses. "I don't know that I believe in him and want him," said Katie, "but it's just going to happen — he's the reality star." Watch Luntz's Fox News focus group grapple with Trump's absence in the video below. Peter Weber
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Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
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