RUSH: Here’s John in Houston. We head back to the phones. I’m glad you waited. Appreciate your patience. Hello.
CALLER: Hi, Rush. Assuming Donald Trump does win the nomination, what’s to keep him from coming out and just saying, “I don’t want to do any debates, you know, I don’t want to give her a forum, an audience she wouldn’t normally have. I’m gonna have press conferences. I’m gonna have rallies. I’m gonna have whatever, laying out my plan, laying out my vision, laying out my cabinet.
RUSH: That’s a good question.
CALLER: Why give the RNC another hook over him where he has to do what they say? He could just say, “I’m not gonna do it.” He’s not done it before.
RUSH: Wait a minute. The debates are not RNC, DNC. The debates occur under the auspices of what?
CALLER: Media?
RUSH: Yeah, but it’s the League of Women Voters, presidential commission on debate. It’s the League of Women Voters. It’s a good question about are these candidates required, are they mandated. I mean, if they don’t show up, what are they gonna do, dock ’em five electoral votes? I mean, doesn’t work that way.
CALLER: He’s flaunted every convention up to this point. There’s no reason to say, “I don’t want do this. I’m not gonna give her the privilege –”
RUSH: Well, you know, this is what I expected with the first Fox debate that blew up. You know, I actually, you can go back and get my transcript from that day, I actually predicted that Trump would do exactly that, not show up, or else show up and say, “This is crazy, 16 people on this stage. It’s not even a debate. We’re not gonna get anywhere doing this, and I don’t even know why I’m here.” I expected him to continue blowing up politics-as-usual.
But he didn’t. He showed up at the debate and he played by the rules in terms of, you know, when the blue light went on, the red light, he shut up. He didn’t hog it, didn’t try to blow it up for anybody else. But, as to not showing up and instead saying, you know, screw that, I’m just gonna do another rally and, if Hillary wants to come, she’s welcome. I’ll just do a press conference. I think his people eat it up. But I also think that some of his supporters just want to see him in a debate and just rocking Hillary — well, you know what I’m talking about.