Trump Rips Huntsman, Paul as 'Joke Candidates'

Jon Huntsman and Ron Paul made no bones about deriding the upcoming Donald Trump-moderated Republican debate; now, the Donald is firing back. The mogul has labeled the two men “joke candidates,” MSNBC reports. “Those two candidates have zero chance of being elected so it makes no difference” that they turned down invitations, Trump said. “Frankly it gives more airtime to people that really have a chance at getting elected. I think it will get tremendous ratings." And just to further stir the pot, Think Progress notes that this morning he sarcastically told Chuck Todd "I'm sure (Huntsman) will tell the truth about" whether he sought the Donald's blessing, "because he's a Mormon."

Trump has been telling various media outlets that he’d be willing to run in 2012 as an independent if the Republicans don’t pick someone he thinks can beat President Obama. Karl Rove thinks that’s ridiculous, Mediaite notes. “If you’re going to be a candidate, be a candidate,” he said on Fox News. “Don’t make it contingent upon whether your show’s renewed.” That “trivializes” the election process, Rove said. (More Ron Paul stories.)