Former President Donald Trump on Tuesday said no one asked him or his campaign about organizing and participating in debates with 2024 GOP primary rivals, saying he likely won’t attend the two thus far scheduled by the Republican National Committee (RNC).
The RNC announced in February that it planned a set of 10 to 12 GOP presidential primary debates between August 2023 and the July 2024 Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
In keeping with a Republican tradition, the party’s national committee scheduled the first of the debates in Milwaukee and announced last month that it would be hosted by Fox News, although a formal date has not been set.
On April 21, RNC Chair Ronna McDaniel announced the second debate would take place at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif. No date has been set.
In a Truth Social post, Trump said the RNC never discussed debate arrangements and protocols with him or his campaign, questioning why as the presumptive frontrunner he needs to endure “being libeled and abused” by “MAGA-hating” moderators in needless exchanges with lesser candidates.
“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,” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“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?” he wrote.
Trump specifically cited the second debate for enmity, noting that the chair at the Reagan Library “is, amazingly, Fred Ryan, Publisher of The Washington Post.”
Would he attend that debate? “NO!” Trump said.
Trump’s attacks on his more policy-polished rivals during debates in 2016 was what set him apart in a large GOP presidential primary field.
During his failed 2020 reelection campaign, the RNC did not schedule any primary debates with the GOP solidified behind the incumbent Trump early in the cycle.
By John Haughey
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