After most of the 2012 Republican presidential candidates refused to attend a Newsmax-sponsored debate moderated by businessman/reality TV impresario Donald Trump, the Donald himself announced Wednesday that he would step aside from his role in the event.
"I have decided not to be the moderator of the Newsmax debate," Trump said, according to Fox News.
Since Newsmax announced that Trump would moderate the Dec. 27th debate in Iowa earlier this month, the conservative magazine has struggled to convince candidates to show up. A spokesman for Texas Rep. Ron Paul said that the circus-like atmosphere of the event was "beneath the office of the Presidency" and former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman's spokesman said he was looking "forward to watching Mitt Romney and Newt Gingrich suck up to Trump with a big bowl of popcorn." Even Minnesota Rep. Michele Bachmann, who has met with Trump on several occasions, declined. In the end, only two candidates, former House Speaker Newt Gingrich and former Pennsylvania Sen. Rick Santorum, accepted the invitation to join.
Trump injected himself into the Republican primary process last spring, when he led a campaign to pressure President Barack Obama to release a second form of his birth certificate from his native Hawaii. Trump hinted at the time that he was considering joining the Republican presidential race, and he still says that he's leaving the door open to run as an independent.
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