Republican presidential hopefuls have been working feverishly to meet the criteria set by the Republican National Committee for participation in the first primary debate scheduled for August. However, former President Donald Trump has remained unconvinced that he will attend on Sunday, despite his overwhelming popularity.
“A lot of individuals didn’t do it, including Ronald Reagan. Trump acknowledged as much during an appearance on Fox News’ “Sunday Morning Futures,” saying, “When you have a big lead, you don’t do it.”
In rare circumstances, our advantage is as high as 60 points. Why bother debating if you’re ahead by 50 or 60 points, you ask? It’s unfair, to be honest. Why would you put up with queries from someone with no experience?
The former president also dismissed the possibility that Florida Governor Ron DeSantis, who has routinely polled second behind Trump, may gain ground on him by skipping the debate.
Asked by Maria Bartiromo, “Do you see any risk that if you don’t show up, Ron DeSantis has a good night and it cuts into your lead?” DeSantis said he did not see any risk.
The alternative is that someone else has a great night and eats into his lead, which is exactly what is occurring. He’s going down and a couple of them are going up,” Trump retorted.
Still, he admitted, “I haven’t really made up my mind.”
DeSantis has committed to participating in the upcoming Milwaukee debate. Sunday he referred to it as a “great opportunity” to meet with voters.
There are many potential Republican voters, and they approve of our work in Florida. Speaking of the next debate during an interview on Fox News’ “MediaBuzz,” he said, “They know I’m a good governor… but they haven’t seen a lot about me up close and personal, so that gives us a great opportunity to be able to be able to share our vision.” On the campaign trail in these early states, “what we’ve found is that when we’re able to make that case to voters directly, we get a tremendous response.”
Although he skipped the first GOP debate in Iowa, Reagan did take part in and foot the bill for one in New Hampshire during the 1980 presidential election. During the 1984 primary season, when Reagan was running for a second term, there were no debates since Reagan faced no serious competition from inside the Republican Party.