Donald Trump is so far ahead in the polls for the Republican primary that he thinks he’s gaining nothing by debating with his rivals. The former president this Sunday afternoon confirmed what was an open secret: that he will not take part in the first debate, which is scheduled for this Wednesday. But his announcement went further: “I WILL NOT ATTEND THE DEBATES!” he wrote in plural and capital letters on Truth, his social network. It’s not clear if this plurality will impact all debates emerging in the Republican primary or the two debates already scheduled.
It was a given that Trump would skip the first debate. He’d been hinting at it for months and it was taken for granted a few days ago. It will be very busy, with more than half a dozen candidates including some outspoken opponents of Trump, including former New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. In order to participate, it is necessary to meet a minimum threshold of voting intentions and donations from supporters being raised for the second debate, scheduled for September 27 in Simi Valley, California.
Additionally, attendees must sign a pledge that they will support the nominee who will be finally named at next July’s Republican convention, and Trump refused to do so, citing assurances he will never support several of the nominees would.
“The new CBS poll that just came out shows that I’m leading the campaign with ‘legendary’ numbers. TRUMP 62%, 46 points ahead of DeSanctimonious (who’s plummeting like a sick bird!), Ramaswamy 7%, Pence 5%, Scott 3%, Haley 2%, Sloppy Chris Christie 2%, “Aida” Hutchinson 1%, Trump has written to justify his decision.
And he continued: “The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I’ve had, with energy independence, strong borders and military, the biggest tax cuts and regulations, no inflation, the strongest economy in history and much more.” SO I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE DEBATE!” he concluded.
Not only will Trump skip Wednesday’s debate in Milwaukee, but he’s been looking for ways to counter-plan it. US media has released that they plan to broadcast (and may already have recorded) an interview with controversial communicator Tucker Carlson, who posted his latest interventions on X, the social network formerly known as Twitter, after he fired as a Fox News star presenter.
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That would be a double affront to conservative broadcaster Fox, owned by tycoon Rupert Murdoch. First, because it’s the chain that’s broadcasting Wednesday’s debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and because Trump’s absence makes it less attractive. Second, because Fox is in open disputes with Carlson, who continues to be paid on his multimillion-dollar contract but demands that he not work for other media.
It is also an insult to the Republican Party, whose apparatus organizes the debates. Members of the Republican National Committee (RNC) have tried persistently but unsuccessfully to persuade him to come.
The Tucker Carlson interview is one of the alternatives Trump explored ahead of the debate. According to the AP agency, one of the options he considered was showing up in Milwaukee at the last minute or appearing there but sitting in the audience and providing live commentary on the social network. There has also been thought of going to competing chains or holding a rally at the same time.
Trump last week called off the “big press conference” he had announced for this Monday, in which he said he would present alleged evidence to prove the hoax that the Georgia election was stolen from him. There will be no such thing, said the former president on the advice of his lawyers. Trump is due to appear in Atlanta this week to be charged and appear in court to hear the indictment on his fourth indictment for attempting to rig the Georgia election result after his loss to Joe Biden.
Chris Christie has accused the former president of not having “the guts to speak up” and called him a “coward,” but Trump insists it’s not courage that matters, it’s intelligence. The DeSantis campaign ran ads under the slogan, “We cannot afford a candidate who is too weak to debate.”
To enter, a candidate must have at least 1% in three national polls, or alternatively 1% in two national polls plus 1% in a state poll in two different states at the top of the area code (Iowa, New Hampshire, Nevada and South Carolina). In addition, they must have at least 40,000 distinct donors, with at least 200 of them in more than 20 states.
The deadline to demonstrate compliance with these requirements is this Monday, 48 hours before the debate, but there are already several candidates who have exceeded the required standards. Among them are his main rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis; former Vice President Mike Pence; former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie; former US Ambassador to the United Nations and former Governor of South Carolina Nikki Haley; the only black Republican Senator, Tim Scott; Billionaire biotech entrepreneur and scourge of bright ideology Vivek Ramaswamy; and North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum, who offered $20 gift cards to 50,000 voters who had donated $1 to participate in the debate. .
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