Republican frontrunner Donald Trump said Friday that he was glad he skipped the Republican debate after watching rival Sen. Ted Cruz (R., Texas) get "really pummeled" on the stage, suggesting he would have been in the line of fire if he had attended.
Speaking at a rally in Nashua, New Hampshire, Trump did his usual boasting Friday about his high poll numbers before mentioning Cruz, his strongest GOP rival in Iowa.
"I think we're going to do really well in Iowa," Trump said. "We're leading in the Iowa polls now and leading pretty good. And Cruz is in second place. He got really pummeled last night. Actually, I'm glad I wasn't there because I guess all of that--he got pummeled. Wow."
The crowd laughed at Trump's remarks.
"You know, they didn't even mention that he was born in Canada," Trump said. "Right? When you're born in Canada, you're not supposed to be running for President of the United States. Prime Minister of Canada? No problem. No, no, he can run for Canada. Prime Minister of Canada. No problem. So he got beaten up pretty badly last night. I don't know what's going to happen to his poll numbers, but probably they're not going up."
Trump set off a media firestorm earlier this week when he declared Fox News host Megyn Kelly to be biased against him and ultimately announced he would not participate in the Republican debate. Kelly upset Trump's camp last summer with a debate question about his past controversial remarks about women.
In lieu of the debate, Trump held a rally in Iowa Thursday night on behalf of veterans, and he announced he'd raised $6 million for them.