The Republican primary debates in the United States will be without Donald Trump. The former American president confirmed, Sunday August 20 on his social network Truth Social, that he will skip the first meeting scheduled for Wednesday.
“The public knows who I am and what a successful presidency I served, with energy independence, strong borders and military, the biggest tax and regulatory cuts, no inflation, the most steeped in history, and many other things besides »he wrote.
“I WILL NOT PARTICIPATE IN THE DEBATES! », he adds, claiming to benefit from 62% of the voting intentions in the Republican primaries, or 46 points ahead of his most serious rival, the governor of Florida, Ron DeSantis. Ron DeSantis “crashes like a sick bird”mocked the former president.
Fox, a “hostile network”
The former president, and favorite within the “Grand Old Party”, has said for months that he does not see the point of joining his Republican rivals on stage during the first debate in Milwaukee, Wis., on Wednesday, given of his lead in the race for the party’s candidacy.
“Why would I allow people at 1 or 2% and 0% to ask me questions all night? » he said in a June interview with Fox News host Bret Baier, who will serve as moderator. Mr Trump has also repeatedly criticized Fox, the host of the event, insisting it is a “hostile network” who he says will not treat him fairly.
Donald Trump had discussed several counter-programming options at Wednesday’s debate, including an interview with Tucker Carlson, the former star host of Fox News today broadcast on X, ex-Twitter. THE New York Times reported on Saturday that the interview, scheduled to air on Wednesday during the debate, had already been taped. “We can neither confirm nor deny – stay tuned,” said Mr. Trump’s spokesman, Steven Cheung.
Five months before the start of the primaries, which will designate the Republican candidate for the American presidential election of 2024, Donald Trump enjoys support from his base stronger than ever. But his legal setbacks cast a shadow over his attempt to return to the White House. The stormy billionaire, who denounces a ” witch hunt “is beset by cases: he is charged with conspiracy against American institutions in connection with his actions to reverse the result of the presidential election of 2020, negligent management of confidential files and falsification of accounting documents after the purchase of the silence of an X movie actress.
” Coward “
Seven candidates have met the necessary criteria to participate in the first meeting on Wednesday. In addition to Ron DeSantis, there will be former New Jersey Governor Chris Christie, North Dakota Governor Doug Burgum, Donald Trump’s former Vice President Mike Pence, his former United Nations Ambassador Nikki Haley, Carolina Senator South Tim Scott, and businessman Vivek Ramaswamy. The authorities of the Republican Party had given Donald Trump until Monday to announce his decision on his possible participation.
The former president’s rivals fear that his absence from the debates will make them appear to be second-rate candidates, and will not allow them to compete directly with him to try to change the trend of the forecasts. Chris Christie, one of the few Republican candidates to directly tackle Donald Trump, accused him of missing out “courageous to show off”treating it as ” coward “ if he did not participate in the debates.
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Relatives of the billionaire fear, however, that his competitors will take advantage of his absence to launch a dynamic. In 2016, after missing a debate, Donald Trump lost Iowa in the Republican primaries to Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
As a condition of their participation in the primaries, candidates must commit “to honor the will of voters in the primaries” and support the winner. But how to enforce this rule is not obvious. Donald Trump has already declared that he will not sign this pledge.