Haley, DeSantis try to bait Trump onto the debate stage

Back Print By Seth McLaughlin The Washington Times Tuesday, January 2, 2024 Former President Donald Trump’s top rivals for the 2024 GOP presidential nomination are calling him out for refusing to take part in a debate next week. Gov. Ron DeSantis of Florida and former U.S. Ambassador to the U.N.

Nikki Haley have been hankering for a chance to share the stage with Mr. Trump , but he refuses to let it happen and is set to be missing in action for the CNN showdown on Jan. 10 in Des Moines. “With only three candidates qualifying, it’s time for Donald Trump to show up,” Ms. Haley said in a statement.

“As the debate stage continues to shrink, it’s getting harder for Donald Trump to hide.” The DeSantis campaign said Mr. Trump “is scared to get on the stage because he’d have to explain why he didn’t build the wall finally, added nearly $8 trillion to the debt, and turned the country over to Fauci.” “If it would make the debate more inviting, we would gladly agree to make it a seated format where the former president would be more comfortable,” said DeSantis campaign spokesman Andrew Romeo.

Mr. Trump , the prohibitive favorite in the race, skipped four previous GOP debates. Instead of attending the debate next week, he is slated to headline a Fox News town hall event. Mr. Trump , Ms. Haley and Mr. DeSantis are the three candidates who met the criteria CNN established to win an invite. To qualify, candidates needed to secure at least 10% of the vote in national or Iowa polls.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com . Copyright © 2024 The Washington Times, LLC. Click here for reprint permission . Please read our comment policy before commenting. Click to Read More and View Comments Click to Hide.