Thursday's GOP debate could be open season on Trump

The staff of The World and Everything in It has profiled 22 possible 2016 presidential candidates in its “White House Wednesday” series. Now they take a look at who’s ahead and who’s making moves as the primaries get closer.

Donald Trump grabbed headlines this morning for boycotting Thursday night’s Republican debate on Fox News because Megyn Kelly was chosen as the moderator.

Trump said in a video posted on his Instagram account, “Megyn Kelly’s really biased against me. She knows that. I know that. Everybody knows that. Do you really think she can be fair at a debate?” Trump’s sensitivity to Kelly goes back to the very first GOP debate, when he got upset at a tough line of questioning.

Even for Trump, backing out of the debate is a surprising move because the Iowa caucuses are just days away. He’s still vying with Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas, for the top spot in Iowa polls, and this debate will be held in Iowa. But so far a lot of the things people thought might hurt Trump haven’t hurt him in the slightest, so it may not matter.

The other candidates are sure to take shots at Trump without him there. A Cruz-affiliated Super PAC recently put out an ad deriding Trump for supporting government-run healthcare. Trump fired back on MSNBC this week, calling Cruz a liar. But it’s not clear whether he has changed his position.

Trump has spoken glowingly in the past about universal healthcare systems in Europe. About 15 years ago he said, “I’m very liberal when it comes to healthcare. I believe in universal healthcare. I believe in whatever it takes to make people well and better.”

If he were singing an entirely different tune right now, it would be easy to say he simply changed his stance. But just one year ago, Trump said, “A friend of mine was in Scotland recently. He got very, very sick. They took him by ambulance and he was there for four days. He was really in trouble and they released him and he said, ‘Where do I pay?’ And they said, ‘There’s no charge.’ Not only that, he said it was like great doctors, great care. I mean we could have a great system in this country.”

In September, Trump said on CBS’s 60 Minutes that Obamacare should be repealed, but added, “I am going to take care of everybody. I don’t care if it costs me votes or not. Everybody’s going to be taken care of, much better than they’re taken care of now.”

Presidential Power Rankings

WORLD’s Presidential Power Rankings are a snapshot of where the GOP presidential primary race stands right now. Polling is the biggest factor in the rankings, but they also include structural advantages such as fund-raising and political talent. This week, we rank the top 10 Republican candidates for president.