Former President Donald Trump announced his decision not to attend the fourth Republican debate mere minutes after the end of the third, which he derided as "boring" while speaking at a rally held at the same time as the event.

Trump campaign spokesman Chris LaCivita told CBS News that the former president would not be attending next month's debate in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. The announcement, while made earlier than many would have predicted, was not altogether unexpected, as Trump repeatedly panned the debate at his rally in Hialeah, Florida.

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“They’re not watchable,” Trump said. “You know, the last debate was the lowest-rated debate in the history of politics, so therefore, do you think we did the right thing by not participating?”

He was met with affirmative cheers from the crowd.

"Somebody said — one of the dumber ones — 'Oh, he doesn’t have the courage to stand up,'" Trump said at another point. “Well, listen, I’m standing in front of tens of thousands of people right now, and it’s on television. That’s a hell of a lot harder to do than a debate.”

Despite his distaste for a debate with his primary rivals, Trump expressed excitement for a possible debate with President Joe Biden, mocking the incumbent's alleged senility.

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“What does MAGA stand for, Joe? Tell me. ‘I don’t know, I don’t know.’ We’ll ask him that during a debate: What does MAGA stand for? ‘I don’t know,” Trump said.

Despite further cementing his dominance in the polls since the second debate, Trump featured less prominently as a topic of discussion in the third one, with the heated feud between former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley and entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy absorbing the most attention. Haley and Gov. Ron DeSantis (R-FL) took notable shots at the former president to start off the debate, but the subject quickly faded in favor of a foreign policy discussion.