Not since rapper Meek Mill fired hypothetical shots at fellow hip-hop sensation Drake has there been a beef as cold as Donald Trump vs. the Fox News channel.

With the seventh national Republican debate set to take place last Thursday night on Fox News just days before the first presidential caucuses, Donald Trump, the frontrunner for the Republican candidacy, made a bold move to boycott the debate and Fox News.

Trump has a bit of history with the news channel, which serves as the blatantly conservative-biased media outlet on television. His feuds with Fox anchor Megyn Kelly rival the recent Kanye West and Wiz Khalifa Twitter firestorm and, in a move that was as egotistical as it was brilliant, Trump set out to trump Fox’s ratings by not participating in the debate.

While the debate still had a strong viewership of 12.5 million, according to Nielsen, Trump’s event, a veterans’ benefit that occurred at the same time as the debate, undoubtedly stole viewers from Fox News. The debate was down from the record-setting 24 million ratings of the first Republican debate.

While Trump’s move was a bit petty, it is nothing new from the mogul-turned-politician. Trump, by not going to the debate, really did nothing to hurt his campaign. Had he participated in the event, he would have undoubtedly stolen the show with his firebrand remarks. By not attending the debate, however, he put his name on the front of every newspaper and media outlet that covered his bold move to skip a debate right before the caucuses.

A savvy move.

The boycott did little to hurt his standings as the frontrunner of the Republican field and, as if he has not commanded media attention enough, he took away any firepower the other candidates might have gained this past week by staging his own event.

This marks another interesting event in the unorthodox campaign of Donald Trump, a man few took seriously as a presidential candidate. Many still refuse to take him too seriously and it remains to be seen how his standing in the GOP might affect his chances at the bid for their candidate, but Trump continues to surprise, disgust and amaze the nation as he storms toward his goal of the White House.

Any press is good press and Trump has the press eating out of his hand, whether it be garbage or gold.

Personal preferences aside, one has to hand it to Donald Trump. He may be petty, he may be pouty and he may be party-disoriented, but he is blazing a campaign trail unlike any before him. I hate to say it is a historic run, but it is something analysts will no doubt use as a reference for years to come.

Beef might be for rappers, feuds might be for Twitter, but both are not above or below Donald Trump, who will use them to gain him more publicity.

The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the writer and are not representative of The Slate or its staff as a whole.

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