Donald Trump has abruptly canceled a scheduled Q&A with the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce due to concerns he would be "put on trial" -- no word yet, however, on wether he still thinks he'll "win the Latino vote."
The Chamber has been hosting regularly Q&A sessions with presidential candidates on both sides of the aisle and was set to feature the controversial Republican frontrunner next Thursday, October 8.
Trump's decision to take part in the event was met with praise from conservatives like radio host Laura Ingraham who applauded him for going into the "lion's den":
The Politico articled linked to by Ingraham included some quotes to help bolster the claim that the Hispanic Chamber of Commerce may, in fact, be accurately described as the "lion's den" by Trump and his supporters.
After all, Trump did open his xenophobic presidential campaign with a gratuitous jab at Mexican "criminals" and "rapists."
“We’re not going to go easy on him. A lot of people think it’s just going to be this positive thing,” Ammar Campa-Najjar, the group’s communications director told Politico. Campa-Najjar, the article went on to mention also had "some choice words about the businessman, his ideas and his candidacy. They included 'sad,' 'absurd' and 'broken.'"
“I’ve been tight-lipped for a while, but I’ve got to speak up now,” Campa-Najjar warned.
Of course, Trump has dealt with the Chamber before, having sat for a one-on-one meeting with Chamber CEO, Javier Palomarez, last month, where he claims he secured a personal pledge from Trump that he'd attend the Q&A.
But still, Trump's campaign, dogged by recent missteps that haven't helped his seemingly stagnant poll numbers, called off the scheduled rematch, citing concerns he would be "put on trial," according to NBC News:
In a statement, the chamber said it refused to change the format of the Q&A session, show favoritism, exclude any issues or topics or "grant immunity from objective scrutiny of his policies."
The chamber said Trump would not have been treated differently than other candidates that have done the sessions or spoken to the chamber's members.
Trump, for his part, denied ever accepting the invitation.
"I never agreed to do an event. This is the first time I'm hearing about this. I mean, I never agreed," Trump told CNN today. "He wanted me to do an event because he probably can't sell tickets without me. Why would anybody do an event when he's a negative person?"
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