As we told you earlier, GOP front-runner Donald Trump backed out of his planned appearance at the American Conservative Union’s CPAC conference in Maryland on Saturday…
'Chickened out'? Donald Trump bails on #CPAC2016 at 'last minute' https://t.co/5j5qOONjZM
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 4, 2016
…and now we might know why. ACU chairman Matt Schlapp insinuated on Fox Business Network that it was because Trump would have to answer questions from the conservatives in attendance:
CPAC's Matt Schlapp on why Trump bailed: "We made very clear with him, you’re allowed to give a speech, but you have to answer questions."
— Alan Rappeport (@arappeport) March 4, 2016
CPAC chairman Matt Schlapp implies to FBN that Trump dropped out of CPAC because he didn't want to take questions. pic.twitter.com/hC8sNyDVVw
— Sopan Deb (@SopanDeb) March 4, 2016
Update 7:08. Politco adds more to story:
Accountability https://t.co/YGyT7gSatX pic.twitter.com/OxJbWsE10L
— Allahpundit (@allahpundit) March 5, 2016
Update 9:43. More from Megyn Kelly:
.@mschlapp: Trump "wanted to dictate to us what the rules would be for his [#CPAC] appearance & we decided that would not be appropriate."
— Megyn Kelly (@megynkelly) March 5, 2016
And here’s Trump’s booth … sad!
This is Donald Trump's entire representation at CPAC. Sad trombone. pic.twitter.com/vgEiTOelVJ
— Ellen L. Carmichael (@ellencarmichael) March 4, 2016
Exit question: Does Newt still support Trump skipping the event if this is really the reason?
'You've lost me, Newt': Gingrich takes heat for defending Trump's withdrawal from CPAC https://t.co/SSFR1en9BO
— Twitchy Team (@TwitchyTeam) March 4, 2016
Editor’s note: This post has been updated.
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