The Hill News

Sen. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.) dubbed real estate mogul Donald Trump the "ego in chief."

Kirk was responding to a question about what he thought of Trump moderating an upcoming Republican presidential debate in Iowa hosted by Newsmax magazine.

"He's definitely the ego in chief," Kirk said Tuesday on Illinois radio station 1400 WDWS.

The debate moderated by Trump will take place Dec. 27.

Thus far, the Republican presidential field seems split on whether they plan to attend the debate. Earlier on Tuesday, Michele Bachmann said she had not decided whether she planned to attend the debate. On Monday, Rick Santorum announced he would attend.

Meanwhile, both Ron Paul and Jon Huntsman have decided not to participate.

Huntsman's decision not to attend the debate appears to be a continuation of an ongoing feud between him and Trump. Trump has cast out any possibility that Huntsman would be the nominee and said Huntsman requested a one-on-one sit-down with him, which Trump said he declined. Huntsman's campaign has denied that there was ever any request to sit down with Trump to win his support.