News

Actions

WATCH LIVE: Coverage of Thursday Night GOP Debate

Posted
and last updated

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - The Latest on developments from the 2016 Republican race for president, less than a week out from the Iowa caucuses (all times local):

10:40 a.m.

Iowa fast-food workers calling for $15-an-hour wages say they'll stage a day of demonstrations ahead of the Republican presidential debate.

Workers from restaurants including McDonald's walked off the job for the day Thursday.

Activists say the daylong series of protests will culminate with a march to the Iowa Events Center and rally at the debate site, where they hope to draw at least 1,000 low-wage workers.

___

9:30 a.m.

Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump is continuing his attacks on Fox News host and debate moderator Megyn Kelly.

The GOP front-runner posted seductive photos of her from a 2010 GQ Magazine shoot on his official Twitter page and referred to her as "the bimbo that's asking presidential questions."

Trump's Fox feud dates back to the first primary debate, when Kelly took him to task over derogatory statements he'd made about women.

Trump announced this week that he would boycott Thursday's Fox debate following a mocking Fox News statement that suggested Trump would replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers and that the leaders of Iran and Russia "both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly" if he becomes president.

He accused Kelly of being "a lightweight" and says he will instead host a fundraiser for wounded veterans instead of attending the debate.

___

9:20 a.m.

Republican presidential candidate Ben Carson received a standing ovation from Iowa lawmakers during a visit to the state Capitol.

Carson spent time in the House chamber Thursday morning. He sat alongside Rep. Rob Taylor, a Republican from West Des Moines who is co-chair of Carson's campaign in Iowa.

Carson did not make public remarks but received a standing ovation from lawmakers in the chamber when Taylor introduced him. He later met privately with Republican lawmakers.

Carson is one of several presidential candidates traveling around Iowa ahead of the first-in-the-nation caucuses on Monday. He will participate in a Fox News GOP debate Thursday night in Des Moines.

___

9:00 a.m.

A new $1 million political advertisement says that Donald Trump can't be trusted, even on his signature issue of getting tough on illegal immigrants.

The ad seeks to undermine the frequent Republican presidential poll leader's tough talk about building a wall on the Mexican border.

It includes comments he has made about giving "amnesty" to some who are in the country illegally. And it goes on to assert that his real estate development company relies on illegal immigrants for cheap labor, pointing out a $1 million fine the Trump Organization paid for employing illegal immigrants in the construction of the Trump Tower in New York.

Representatives of Trump's campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The commercial, which is set to begin airing Friday in Iowa and also will soon debut in New Hampshire, is sponsored by Our Principles, an anti-Trump super political action committee led by Katie Packer, a former aide to 2012 GOP nominee Mitt Romney.

___

2:20 a.m.

It looks like Republican presidential candidates will be debating without their front-runner. Donald Trump hopes to starve his rivals of attention at a critical juncture in the campaign by holding a competing event of his own.

Trump's abrupt decision to boycott the final debate before Monday's Iowa caucuses has added a new layer of uncertainty to a race that has defied political convention. The real estate mogul cites "unfair" treatment from debate host Fox News as his reason for skipping the contest Thursday night in favor of a rally nearby.

Other GOP candidates see Trump's move as a welcome opportunity to emerge from the long shadow the billionaire has cast over the race, while also hoping it might damage his standing with Iowa voters.