Getty Images, AP PhotoUPDATE: A Fox News spokesperson tells E! News, "In an off camera exchange, Megyn asked Senator Ted Cruz about the fact that Donald Trump got very little mention from any of them during the debate. She asked him off camera: 'You seem to be treating Trump like Voldemort – ‘he who shall not be named' – did you plan that?'"
______________________________
Megyn Kelly called Donald Trump the "elephant not in the room" at the start of Thursday night's GOP debate in Iowa, but that wasn't the only way she referred to the absentee candidate.
The Kelly File host and Trump have been in a longtime feud, which ultimately led him to opt out of the debate, instead choosing to address a veterans' rally at nearby Drake University where he raised money for Wounded Warriors. But after the debate, candidate Ted Cruz revealed on-air that Kelly referred to Trump as Voldemort, the main villain from the Harry Potter franchise.
"Well, you know, you were joking just before we went on air that it was sort of like Voldermort, He Who Must Not Be Named," Cruz mentioned while in a post-debate interview with Kelly.
The Fox News moderator didn't deny that she made the comment, only smiling and asking if the candidates made a pact not to discuss the real estate magnate. Kelly and Trump have been in a very public fight since the start of the election season, so the revelation that she referred to him as such an evil character will probably only worsen their feud.
But while he was hosting his event at Drake University, where Mike Huckabee and Rick Santorum joined him on stage, Trump sang a different tune about the network he chose to avoid. "Fox has been extremely nice the last number of hours," he said during the rally. "They've wanted me there."
He said the network continuously called him to try to get him to attend. "'How bout now?'" he imitated one call. "They called me a few minutes ago and I said, 'Hasn't it already started?'"
The billionaire real estate tycoon accused Kelly of being unprofessional and disrespectful during a previous debate, where many people believed he insinuated that she was on her period. He has since taken his feud online, persistently tweeting that she isn't a top-notch journalist. "I refuse to call Megyn Kelly a bimbo, because that would not be politically correct. Instead I will only call her a lightweight reporter!" he tweeted Thursday.
Fox has defended its anchor time and time again in various statements. We'll just have to wait and see what Trump has to say about his new, unflattering nickname. He did, however, tweet that his fundraiser was a total success.
(Originally published on Jan. 29, 2016 at 6:32 a.m. PT).