Donald Trump and Megyn Kelly make nice at Republican debate
Donald Trump is preparing to face his biggest rival for airtime in Thursday night's debate.
No, we're not talking about Ted Cruz. Not Marco Rubio, either. Definitely not John Kasich.
We're talking about Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, one of the moderators for the debate.
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Kelly has proven to be one of the toughest opponents Trump has faced in this election cycle -- he's insulted her and threatened to boycott debates to avoid her -- and there's plenty of reason to believe that will continue.
Trump will take the stage on Thursday night with plenty of momentum, coming off strong Super Tuesday results that solidified his grip as the Republican candidate to beat.
It's an important moment for the man who is now inarguably the frontrunner for the Republican presidential nomination and who will claim a larger portion of the spotlight now that many of his rivals are gone.
The debate will include Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and John Kasich, as Jeb Bush, Chris Christie, Rand Paul and Ben Carson have all dropped out.
The last Fox News debate lacked Trump, who boycotted the debate and hosted a fundraiser instead.
That means Thursday will be the first time for Kelly and Trump to square off since August, when the two tussled just seconds into the first debate.
Six months and a lot of politics after their first matchup, there's been no letup in the fireworks, despite both Trump and Kelly trying to play down their clashes.
Kelly had downplayed the Trump dynamic in an interview with Reuters.
"I feel like it's getting boring. Trump has bigger things to worry about, and so do I," Kelly said.
The tone struck by Kelly and the other moderators will also be under particular scrutiny. A recent article in New York Magazine reported that Fox News has cooled on Rubio and some within the channel are coming around to Trump.
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Trump also seems to be turning over a new leaf.
Following his stellar Super Tuesday, Trump gave a speech that sounded like a candidate preparing for the general election.
By Thursday, he was back up to his old tricks following a public lambasting from Mitt Romney, who called on Republican to elect anyone but Trump.
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As for whether Trump plans to tone it down in the debate, he told NBC's Today Show that he wasn't about to back down from any and all attacks.
"I can't act overly presidential because I'm going to have people attacking from every side," he said.
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Topics Donald Trump Elections
Jason Abbruzzese is a Business Reporter at Mashable. He covers the media and telecom industries with a particular focus on how the Internet is changing these markets and impacting consumers. Prior to working at Mashable, Jason served as Markets Reporter and Web Producer at the Financial Times. Jason holds a B.S. in Journalism from Boston University and an M.A. in International Affairs from Australian National University.
