Donald Trump is now telling people close to him that he may skip early Republican primary debates because he doesn’t want to boost his opponents.
In private comments to aides and confidants in recent weeks, Mr. Trump has made it clear that he does not want to breathe life into his Republican challengers by sharing the stage with them. Mr. Trump has led his nearest rival, Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida, by around 30 percentage points in recent polls. All other contenders are polling in single digits.
“I’m up by too many points,” one associate who spoke with Mr. Trump recalled him saying.
It wasn’t enough for Trump to try to destroy democracy after losing the 2020 election. He has moved on to trying to destroy the presidential primary process within the Republican Party.
Trump has a lot of reasons not to want to show up or a Republican primary debate. His current criminal indictment in Manhattan, the E. Jean Carroll civil rape trial, more criminal indictments against him both federally and in Georgia. Trump doesn’t want to be challenged on his record.
Donald Trump is currently leading in Republican primary polls, but Ron DeSantis will get a bounce when he enters the race.
Trump is also mad at Fox News and doesn’t want to give them any ratings that a full primary debate would provide.
Reading between the lines, it seems like Trump wants the nomination handed to him and doesn’t want to have to work for it. If he follows through on his plan to skip debates, the former president will look weak.
Trump is only digging the hole deeper and dragging the Republican Party down with his chaos.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
