Then President Donald Trump during the final presidential debate in the 2020 general election in October. It is not yet known if he will attend any subsequent Republican debates. Photo: BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI/AFP
Former U.S. President Donald Trump on Sunday said he would skip the upcoming Republican primary, citing his large lead in the polls as evidence that he was known and liked by voters ahead of the 2024 election.
Trump assumed for months that he would likely miss the Wednesday night debate in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, arguing that it didn't make sense to give his Republican rivals a chance to attack him given his significant lead in the national polls.
On Sunday, a CBS poll showed he was the preferred candidate by 62 percent of Republican voters, with his nearest rival, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, garnering 16 percent. All other candidates in the primary race received less than 10% support in this poll, but Emerson College's weekend poll did show Mr. DeSantis tied with biotech entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy at 10%.
«The public knows who am i & what a successful presidency I've had,” Trump said on his Truth Social app.
“Therefore, I will not participate in the debate.”
The Trump campaign did not immediately answer the question of whether the former president meant he would not take part in any Republican debate.
The New York Times reported that Mr. Trump attended a taped interview with former Fox News anchor Tucker Carlson that was expected to be posted online. on Wednesday. It is not yet clear where the interview with Carlson will be posted.
Mr. Trump's absence from this week's debate could mean Governor DeSantis will be the focus of attacks from other candidates seeking to position themselves as the main alternative to the former president . The Republican nomination winner will take on Democratic President Joe Biden in the November 2024 election.
DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo said the Florida governor is looking forward to coming to Milwaukee to share his vision for a possible presidency.
No one is eligible for this nomination, including Donald Trump. You have to come and earn it,” Romeo said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Trump received 47% of the Republican vote in the latest Reuters/Ipsos poll released this month. nationally, where Mr. DeSantis has fallen six percentage points since July to just 13 percent.
None of the other candidates scheduled to take part in the debate have passed the single digits, with the exception of Emerson's latest poll.
Trump has a deadline on Friday to voluntarily turn himself in at Fulton. County, Georgia, after he faced a fourth criminal charge last week in an alleged scheme to undo his 2020 election loss to Biden.
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