Trump says he’s bored by the primary debates, won’t attend the next one

Donald Trump spent the third presidential primary debate 10 miles away, musing about how dull the night he was ditching surely was.

“They’re not watchable,” Trump said of the Republican forum taking place in Miami as he spoke. “You know, the last debate was the lowest-rated debate in the history of politics, so therefore do you think we did the right thing by not participating?” Trump said to cheers in the crowd.

It was the third time he has chosen to skip a Republican National Committee-sanctioned debate in favor of doing an event of his own, a decision that has done little to dent his massive polling lead. At one point, he pushed back against the notion that he was afraid of debating his rivals, who took early shots at Trump and his policies while onstage Wednesday night.

“Somebody said — one of the dumber ones — ‘Oh, he doesn’t have the courage to stand up,” Trump said. “Well listen, I’m standing in front of tens of thousands of people right now and it’s on television. That’s a hell of a lot harder to do than a debate.” By night’s end, Trump had little reason to second-guess his decision. The early attacks he faced from his Republican rivals weren’t repeated. Instead, they turned to battering each other. Shortly after the rally ended, Trump’s top aide, Chris LaCivita, told reporters Trump would not be participating in the fourth debate next month in Tuscaloosa, Ala.