It has been reported that the Republican Party’s debate committee went ahead and announced a debate for Milwaukee even though former president Trump’s campaign had informed the Republican National Committee that he would not be attending a potential discussion scheduled for August.
Two sources of former President Trump’s thoughts have told NBC News that Trump is considering skipping the first Republican debates this summer.
Trump’s apparent disinterest in the first several debates was first reported by the New York Times before the debate committee announced the Milwaukee debate.
It has been reported that Donald Trump is against holding the second debate at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, California, partly because the library has never invited him to speak. This contrasts several Republican contenders who said there Monday night, including Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida and Governor Glenn Youngkin of Virginia.
In a public post last week on the social media platform he controls, Truth Social, Donald Trump intimated that he was considering not participating in the debates.
It’s been noted in many past elections that there is nothing to gain by a candidate with a commanding lead to subject themselves to possible abuse. Trump knows the pitfalls of entering hostile territories where MAGA-hating enemies salivate at the thought of taking him down.
There is currently discussion inside the Republican National Committee on whether or not all candidates should be required to sign a loyalty pledge to support the party’s eventual nominee.
When reporters at the March Conservative Political Action Conference asked Donald Trump if he would sign a loyalty pledge to get on the debate stage, he dodged the question. He may have been alluding to the fact that he wouldn’t vote for all Republicans by making such a statement.
Trump has said people are running that he wouldn’t endorse if they should happen to win the primary.
A former top Trump advisor, David Bossie leads the Republican National Committee’s debate committee.
Recent polling data shows that Trump’s lead over any other contender or potential opponent for the Republican presidential nomination in 2024 remains double digits.
