If he loses Ia, he will have himself to blame for not debating. Nothing to whine about.
You really have a long memory don’t you. /s. In 2016 Cruz won the Caucuses
because the party leadership carefully chose those allowed to vote in them.
Trump went on to win all but one Primary, where the public voted.
He participated in the debates that year. It made no difference at the
Caucuses.
He’s trying to ward that kind of thing off this year. At 60% in the polls, you
don’t debate those at 5%.