Donald Trump may skip Republican debates
Former President Donald Trump has cast doubt on his participation in the upcoming Republican presidential debates, complaining about moderators and venues. Trump made the announcement on his Truth Social media platform, stating that he did not approve of the debates’ announcement, and neither did the Trump Campaign. The Republican National Committee has announced partial plans for two debates, with no specific dates set yet.
Trump would take to Truth Social, saying:
“I see that everybody is talking about the Republican Debates, but nobody got my approval, or the approval of the Trump Campaign, before announcing them. When you’re leading by seemingly insurmountable numbers, and you have hostile Networks with angry, TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors asking the “questions,” why subject yourself to being libeled and abused? Also, the Second Debate is being held at the Reagan Library, the Chairman of which is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post. NO!”
Trump questions the necessity of participating in debates
Trump questioned why he would want to subject himself to “hostile NETWORKS” with “TRUMP & MAGA hating anchors” asking questions. He also highlighted that the publisher of The Washington Post newspaper is an officer with the Reagan library foundation and ended his statement with a resounding “NO!” Trump believes that he has a significant lead in polls and may not see the debates as a priority.
During the 2016 and 2020 presidential elections, Donald Trump had to contend with what he saw as biased moderators and networks. He felt that the questions were designed to favor his opponents, Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden, by asking them softball questions while challenging him with substantive issues and allegations. In contrast, Biden was not questioned about his son, Hunter Biden, and Trump was reprimanded when he brought up the topic. Additionally, in 2020 after Fox News felt that Trump cut off Biden too many times, networks suggested installing a killswitch on Trump’s microphone during debates, which would allow the networks to cut Trump off and mute his microphone if he said anything deemed undesirable. No other President in American history has had this proposal suggested.
Trump’s history of skipping debates
In 2016, Trump boycotted an Iowa debate because he believed that Fox News and anchor Megyn Kelly were biased against him. He also threatened to skip the 2020 presidential debates because of complaints about the debate commission. However, he eventually debated Joe Biden twice, while Biden’s team suggested that they conduct a debate virtually due to COVID-19.
Some opponents of the former president believe that he is preparing to skip the upcoming debates to avoid facing his opponents. However, given his significant lead in the polls, many argue that he does not need to subject himself to moderators who may ask biased or irrelevant questions in an attempt to damage his campaign, as was the case with Megyn Kelley and Chris Wallace in previous debates.
