Donald Trump Responds to Ted Cruz’s Debate Challenge

Trump will not make an appearance at Thursday's Fox News debate.

ByABC News
January 27, 2016, 3:00 PM

— -- After Donald Trump said he’d skip this week’s Republican presidential debate, his fiercest rival in the GOP race, Ted Cruz, has challenged Trump to a "mano a mano" debate.

Cruz has even launched a website called DuckingDonald.com that asks supporters to check "yes" to a debate between he and Trump.

Cruz said that a debate between the two men could be moderated by conservatives like Mark Levin, Sean Hannity, Glenn Beck or Rush Limbaugh. He also said they could debate without a moderator.

"We’ll do 90 minutes, Lincoln Douglas, mano a mano. Donald and me. He can lay out his vision or this country, and I can lay out my vision for this country in front of the men and women of Iowa,” Cruz said.

Trump's campaign responded to the debate offer, telling ABC News, "If he's the last man standing and it comes down to a two-person race Donald Trump will be happy to debate him."

This morning, Cruz poked a little fun at Trump by tweeting a video from "Monty Python" called "Brave Sir Robin Ran Away."

Trump said in a statement that he would host an event in Iowa to raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project tomorrow night. This morning, his campaign manager denied that Trump was scared of Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly, an assertion made by Cruz.

"He’s not afraid to take a question," Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski said on "Good Morning America" today.

Lewandowski also said Kelly is "obsessed" with Trump.

With Trump off the debate stage, Cruz will takeover the center podium.