A tongue-in-cheek statement issued by Fox News Tuesday afternoon had a cascading effect on the network's upcoming Republican presidential debate, first by causing Party front-runner Donald Trump to bow out and then by preparing a second statement condemning his rhetoric.

Earlier in the day, Trump threatened to skip Thursday's debate -- scheduled less than a week before Iowa caucuses - citing Fox News anchors "biased" line of questioning during a presidential primary in August. Trump asserted that the network's ratings would tank without his participation before issuing a statement saying he "doesn't play games" and won't be toyed with, specifically singling out Fox News Chairman Roger Ailes.

A network spokesman issued the first statement soon after, wryly setting up a scenario where Trump was conducing Twitter polls in the Oval Office.

"We learned from a secret back channel that the Ayatollah and Putin both intend to treat Donald Trump unfairly when they meet with him if he becomes president - a nefarious source tells us that Trump has his own secret plan to replace the Cabinet with his Twitter followers to see if he should even go to those meetings," the statement read.

The long-simmering feud between the real estate mogul and the right-leaning cable giant reached its climax. Trump official announced his decision to skip the debate, instead courting other networks for an alternative televised Iowa event; one where he will raise money for the Wounded Warrior Project.


In speaking with CNN, Trump's campaign manager Corey Lewandowski quipped that "Fox will go from probably having 24 million viewers to about two million."

Late Tuesday night, Fox News offered a second, stern rebuttal.

"Donald Trump is refusing to debate seven of his fellow presidential candidates on stage (Thursday) night, which is near unprecedented," the statement said. "We're not sure how Iowans are going to feel about him walking away from them at the last minute, but it should be clear to the American public by now that this is rooted in one thing - Megyn Kelly."

It went on to say that giving into Trump's ultimatums would violate all journalistic standards, as do threats levied by his campaign manager.

"We can't give in to terrorizations toward any of our employees," the statement continued. "Trump is still welcome at Thursday night's debate and will be treated fairly...but he can't dictate the moderators or their questions."

Trump, who initially mused an independent run, continues to put a distance between himself and establishment Republicans.

Last weekend, he called conservative publication the National Review a "dead magazine" after some of the Party's most prominent voices wrote scathing editorials about his campaign; Trump said the 22 essayists are "mostly losers."

More than 40 percent of Republican voters nationwide still back Trump, according to a recent CNN/ORC Poll taken between Jan 21-24. Whether his attack on Fox News has an impact remains to be seen.